Dark Sea: The King and the Princess Short Stories
by Black Wren Sky
Summary: Year 800 - 809 within the Dark Sea Chronicles. Luffy is about to become the Pirate King when he finds himself the guardian of his late brother's daughter. Hijinks and serious events play out as Luffy prowls the sea with his cute but temperamental Pirate Princess.
1. Fateful Meeting

The Fateful Meeting December 29, 800 WG

The Thousand Sunny was a day out from Elbaf. The sun was climbing into the sky, but the crew was in no hurry to rise, which was standard practice on the ship. Some members were up, but the captain and several others remained sound asleep, refusing to budge before breakfast was called.

Sanji was in the kitchen working on the required meal of awakening while Nami and Robin went over the translations for the fourth poneglyph they had acquired at the galley's table. Everything they needed to safely arrive at Raftel was in their grasp. Nami wondered at her captain's lackadaisical attitude. She thought for sure he would hound her all night for the coordinates, but instead he had retired early. That alone was cause for concern, Luffy never went to bed early.

Robin glanced at Nami when she voiced her bewilderment. "Perhaps it's beginning to hit him that the end is within sight. That the journey is almost over." the older woman offered. "Maybe he isn't ready to face that reality."

Sanji poked the sizzling bacon as he spoke over his shoulder to the women, "Why do you say that, Robin-chan?" Nami's eyes asked the same.

Robin looked between the two and asked, "What do you plan to do with yourself, once your goal is achieved?"

"Eh?" Sanji, forever the professional chef, removed the bacon from the pan and placed it on a plate to serve, but still managed to throw Robin a confused look. Nami was equally perplexed.

"I said once that my dream was to read the Real Poneglyph," Robin said. "You, Nami, said you wanted to draw a map of the whole world and you, Sanji, said you wanted to discover the All Blue. What do you plan to do with your lives after you have achieved those goals?" She glanced at Nami then Sanji in turn.

"Oh..." Nami tapped her chin as she thought for a moment. "I guess I would go back to Cocoyashi village, but since I wanted to draw the whole world it would probably be only after I have journeyed all over the world and mapped every island. So I would probably be an old woman by then."

Sanji listened to Nami then said as he fried eggs, "Probably return to the Baratie. I still owe the old man and I would love to tell him about my discovery. What about you, Robin-chan?"

Robin smiled and said, "Restore the Tree of Knowledge and fill it once more with all the history and texts of the world with the addition of what I learned from the Real Poneglyph to complete its collection." Her smile faded and her eyes darkened. "I fear Luffy may not have an idea of what to do with himself after he becomes Pirate King."

"He always speaks about the freedom of the Pirate King being what he wants so why would becoming the Pirate King cause him to hesitate?" asked Nami.

"Being free is great," said Sanji after a long moment of silence, "but what do you do with it? You are free to go anywhere, so where do you go? You are free to do anything, so what do you do? I think... I am beginning to understand what you're saying, Robin-chan. Luffy is suddenly realizing that he is about to reach the top of that great mountain he is climbing and there is nowhere to go after that."

Nami was silent for a moment. It was almost depressing realizing that they were nearing the end of their journey together. It made her almost want to tear the coordinates to Raftel up and throw them overboard, to start the journey over again. Then she smile and said, "I think we are giving Luffy way too much credit. We just left Elbaf behind and he is just tired from everything that happened there. I'll bet he will be pushing us with great impatience toward Raftel as soon as breakfast is over."

Robin smile and Sanji laughed. They were definitely overthinking it. Luffy wasn't someone to dwell on the probable consequences of tomorrow today's decisions caused. If he did they wouldn't have dared half as much as they had. He would cross the bridge of Pirate King then realize he had no idea where to go after that. That was just how Luffy was.

*********

Usually meals were a disorderly chaotic mess. A mix of people consuming food with various degrees of manners and grace, many possessing neither, while keeping their gluttonist captain's stretched hands at bay with threats of extreme violence and swift and precise stabbing fork action. Failure to deploy either tactic usually meant the victim needed to eat their meal in haste less they end up eating air. This day, however, Luffy kept to his own plates and didn't attempt to steal from anyone. Robin may have been onto something after all.

Luffy laughed and smiled his broad grin while stuffing his face like he usually did, but he didn't once reach beyond his own stack of plates. It seemed too much of a coincidence that Luffy suddenly learned some table manners after years of snatching whatever he wanted from the plates of others. Nami watched her captain suddenly worried that he had become afraid of achieving his goal. Though, she wasn't convinced he was aware of what he was dragging his feet. If she asked, he'd probably insist that he wanted to go to Raftel now, to achieve Pirate King now.

Nami shook her head and made up her mind to not worry about these subtle hints. They would continue as always and if Luffy was suddenly lost about what to do next, she would do what navigators do best, help her captain find the correct course to take. She would point out to him that they could visit their old friends, they had to return to the base of Reverse Mountain to visit Laboon. They could help Robin with her new goal or sail all over the world to help Nami draw her map. That would be fun. She didn't think too many of the others would protest the journey continuing. Nami smiled at the thought. This leg of the journey may be coming to an end but there were still plenty of adventures left to have. If Luffy didn't hassle her about when they would arrive all the better for her nerves anyway.

She picked up a piece of bacon and was about to take a bite when she heard someone calling from outside. Considering they were in the middle of the ocean without a heading, she wondered who they had stumbled upon this time. Nami was acutely aware that all their previous coincidental run-ins had been the prelude to big adventures. The voice called again and Nami thought it sounded familiar now that she was listening. She was closest to the door and everyone else was talking so she was the only one to hear. She set her bacon down and rose from her seat.

Of course, Sanji noticed her first.

"What is it Nami-san?" he asked causing all conversation around the table to cease, then he grimaced and glanced at the door. Sanji seemed to have finally noticed there was someone outside. Nami glared. It seemed they all had made a rookie and potential fatal mistake, they had dropped their guard. If the person outside was hostile... Nami shook her head and reminded herself that a homicidal enemy would have a different aura from a stranger meaning no harm. The person outside probably wasn't a threat at the moment which is why no one noticed. However, she wondered how long that would last. Not all trouble was obvious in the first impression phase.

Luffy suddenly rose and walked past Nami, opening the door to poke his head outside to see who it was.

"Tra-o?" said Luffy in surprise. He stepped the rest of the way out onto the deck. Nami and the others swiftly followed.

Law and Luffy had been allied until a short while ago. That alliance had ended when they had achieved their goal of toppling Kaido and they went their separate ways. However, Luffy had let Law leave with a piece from his vivre card since Luffy was still convinced they were friends even as Law continued to emphasize they weren't. Nami had just shook her head at her captain's typical naïveté. Law was admittedly a rival to them as far as the One Piece went. They now possessed all the Road Poneglyphs and Law was the only non-yonko captain besides Luffy who knew of their existence. If Law wanted to reach Raftel, he would need to get the coordinates and, not only did the Straw Hats have the only person who could translate the Road Poneglyphs, they now were the only who had the translated coordinates. Nami was wary of Law's timing. Did he suspect they had all four coordinates now?

Law stood on the deck of his submarine, politely waiting for Luffy to give him permission to board his ship. It was generally respectful for one captain not to board another captain's ship without the ship's captain's permission. Exceptions existed, but as there weren't any threats at the moment, it would have been rude for Law to have been standing aboard their ship when Luffy came out. Not that Luffy would have cared, but it signaled to Nami that Law at least wasn't interesting in fighting right now.

With his crew gathered near the railing to see Law, Luffy smiled and called out, "What's up, Tra-o?"

Law pulled a fat envelope from his long brown coat and said, "I was approached by a woman in Gri-tan two weeks ago, who asked me to give you this letter and one other thing. I don't think her information about our alliance was up-to-date but I didn't see a reason to refuse her."

Luffy blinked and waved Law aboard, which was what Law was waiting for. Instead of jumping aboard, Law tossed several pebbles over the railing and activated his devil fruit ability. One of the Op-Op fruit's abilities was to allow Law to move things through teleportation by exchanging places with another object. In this case he switched his position with the pebbles he had tossed onto the deck. He instantly appeared next to Luffy.

"Who was she?" asked Luffy once Law was in front of him.

"I don't know," said Law. For a moment, Nami thought Law looked sad, then the moment was gone and she wondered if she had imagined it. "I thought maybe you could tell me, since she addressed you by name." This didn't really say much, Luffy was known the world over thanks to antics and high bounty, but Law could mean that the woman addressed Luffy by his name and not his title. Law still referred to Luffy as Straw Hat.

Law held the letter out toward Luffy and Robin took the letter in his place since Luffy wasn't the strongest of readers. The letter was unopened, Law hadn't peeked. Nami's respect for Law rose a degree.

When Robin pulled the letter out it had several pages. Robin carefully unfolded them then began reading aloud:

 _Dear Luffy,_

 _You don't know me, but I know of you as well as if we had grown together. It was my one wish to meet you at least once but, if you are reading this letter, then that wish didn't come true. By the time this letter will have reached you I will most likely be dead or as good as dead. I'm so sorry to not be telling you all this in person. I know this will all come as a shock and be hard to believe._

 _I was a member of the Whitebeard Pirates but was separated from Marco and the others just prior to the Payback War. I don't know where they are and I am being hunted. I believe it is because I am a Whitebeard Pirate and not for more dire reasons. If the Marines do not yet know then please, make certain they never find out. If they do, then all I have done is cast an even bigger target onto your ship, but I have no idea who else to turn to._

 _Within this envelope is the one and only proof of what I will tell you._

 _Luffy... I was your late brother's lover. This small child that I present to you is our daughter, Ann. The picture was taken by the crew a month before Blackbeard betrayed and murdered the Fourth Division Commander, Thatch, setting off the chain of events that would lead to Ace's demise. On the day of Paramount War I was forced to watch the events unfold from Sabaody Archipelago and I was forced to sit out Payback War, in order to keep Ann both secret and safe._

 _Now, I am being relentlessly hunted by Marines and keeping Ann hidden is becoming increasingly difficult. As I sense my time is running out, I send this precious little one to you. I know you are a target as well, but you are not alone, I believe you will never be as alone as I am right now. I believe that you will find a way to keep Ace's child safe._

 _The following pages are just me reminiscing about Ace. Read them if you wish. They were things I wanted to speak with you about when I finally got to meet you. Tell Ann about her father or don't. I know Ace hated his. I don't know if Ann will hate hers. Don't try to force her feelings. If she does hate him that's fine. At least she will be alive to hate us both for bringing her into a world that will never accept her. Just please keep her safe and let her live to decide her life despite what the world wants._

 _Thank you,  
Veronica_

The crew stared agape and even Law looked stunned when Robin finished reading the letter.

Nami couldn't believe it. She was standing next to Robin, reading the letter in silence as Robin read it out loud. The World Government had announced Ace's lineage just to make it clear to everyone how important his death was. How they had hunted for him when he was not yet born. They had been determined to end the line of Gold Roger once and for all. Now with this letter, this woman, Veronica, was claiming to have Ace's child, Roger's grandchild?

Robin looked back at the envelope she had tucked behind the pages. Spotting the corner of a photograph, she pulled it out and Nami stared at the photo with the older woman. It was a simple black and white photograph. Two people, a man and a woman, stood on a deck of a ship before a giant mast. The man, young and shirtless with a distinctive tattoo on his upper arm with the letters ASCE, the S crossed with an X, was grinning from ear to ear while holding a tiny bundle in his arms. A small, smiling face with short black hair peaked out of the wrap. Next to him was a young woman wearing a cape and possessing long hair of a lighter color than either the man or the child gazing at the pair with obvious tender affection.

Without a word, Robin showed Luffy the picture. Luffy took the picture and began to tremble. It was obviously Ace in that picture. Nami had met him just the one time in Alabasta but that tattoo was unmistakable. She couldn't begin to guess what Luffy was feeling. He had taken ridiculous risks to try to obtain the Flame Flame Fruit in Dressrosa because he considered it Ace's memento. What would he do with Ace's child?

Nami looked at Law. "So, where is she?" she asked, her tone sharper than she had intended.

Law glanced at Nami then wordlessly pulled the hem of his coat away revealing a tiny form clinging to his leg. Brilliant green eyes peered through a mop of black hair over the top of a stuffed bear that looked suspiciously like the mink, Bepo, from Law's crew.

Nami crouched down and smiled, trying to ease the child's fears. "Ann, that's your name, right?" she asked as a way to try to get the little girl to respond. Instead, Ann shifted until she was further behind Law's leg. Oh dear.

"I think she learned to hide herself from strangers unless her mother said it was okay," said Law. "She took a while to warm up to me and my crew and that probably was because she had no choice. She still cried and refused to eat anything we offered the first two days."

Nami grew worried. Luffy was not a patient person when it came to certain things and little kids crying would probably invoke a bad reaction from him. She wondered how they were going to be able to handle Ann. They couldn't just leave her with some random family. If it got out who she was they may turn her in for the reward or all die at the hands of those who came looking for her. And Garp probably didn't have the means to hide infamous children anymore. If they could meet with him there was probably nothing he could do now. Ace and Luffy had been his one shot to raise bad-blood kids into something respectable and they both became pirates. No way were the Marines going to turn a blind eye again to his activities.

Luffy crouched down and held the picture up for Ann to see. "Ann, is this your mom?" He pointed to the woman.

Ann hesitated a moment, probably confused by the black and white coloring, then nodded.

"So then, this is you, right?" He pointed the little baby in Ace's arms.

Nami thought Luffy was stupid to ask that since there was no way Ann was going to recognize her baby self in the picture. But Ann nodded anyway after several moment.

Then Luffy pointed to Ace. "Then this must be your dad." Luffy said it as a statement but Ann slowly nodded. "He looks really happy, doesn't he?" Ann nodded making a hiccupping sound. "I think he looks happy, too."

Luffy's face grew sad. "He was my big brother and I couldn't save him. I couldn't bring him back to you. I'm sorry, Ann. Do you think you could still be happy on this ship with me, your stupid uncle who couldn't save your dad?"

Ann sniffed and said, "You're Ji-kun?"

Luffy looked surprised then said, "Yeah."

"Mama said we would go to Ji-kun. Mama said Ji-kun would help us 'cause Papa was his big brother. Ji-kun would accept us," Ann said, hiccupping every few words.

For Nami, Ann's words were heartbreaking. Veronica had to have been desperate. If she had gambled on Law then that means that whoever had been after her that day had been close on her heels and she only had time to hand Law the letter and Ann. Why hadn't she gotten onboard the ship herself? Why hadn't she gone with Law? What happened to her?

"Tra-o? Why isn't Veronica here?" asked Nami.

Law sighed and his face seemed to age a few years. "The Marines were in pursuit. She had just enough time to hand the girl and the letter to me and tell me to take her to Luffy. She then ran off to lead the Marines away so they wouldn't chase me and Ann. Dozens of Marines including a vice-admiral entered the port and she ran across their path to draw them away. They considered her a bigger priority for some reason. There were a lot of gun shots after she left our view. I sensed she didn't make it."

Nami felt her lip quiver. Some vice-admirals were pushovers for pirates of Law and Luffy's level. Others were nearly on par with Fugitora and Kizaru. There was no point in questioning Law at this time which type that vice-admiral was. No amount of second-guessing was going to bring Veronica back.

Luffy's eyes were hidden at Law's statements. Ann's hiccupping had turned to soft sobs and she buried her face into Law's calf. Law was strangely patient with all this, not trying to kick her off or even grimacing. He honestly looked sad for her.

Then Luffy shocked everyone. He held out his hands and whispered, "Ann?"

She peeked at her uncle.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't find you sooner."

Ann sniffed then pulled herself away from Law's leg. She took a few tentative steps toward Luffy then ran into his outstretched arms and sobbed into his chest, stuffed bear still in her grip. Luffy wrapped his arms around her and stroked her hair. "I promise, I won't fail again. I'll keep you safe no matter what, Ann."

Nami stared in disbelief. She never thought Luffy could be so gentle. Nami swore something in the world shifted. If Luffy had been unsure of becoming Pirate King because he didn't know what to do with himself afterwards that was no longer a problem. He would use that power and that freedom to protect Ann. Nami was certain of it.

(Notes)

I created a timeline that has the current point in the story arc (post 2 year time skip) being year 800 since the World Government was founded. It was just easier. I don't have actually years from the series. So think all the fun going on at Whole Cake Island is happening toward the end of year 800 WG. This should then give you an idea of the passage of time for the Chronicles.

I know most of you will be thinking there is no way Luffy would not be impatiently wanting to go to Raftel. And if I had given him a few more days he probably would have gotten over whatever "graduation jitters" he was suffering from and Nami would have been fighting off a constant stream of "Are we there yet?" from her over eager man-child captain.

I call them "graduation jitters" because it was either that or "wedding jitters". You know the type. You are so excited for the end of school, you've been waiting with great impatience for the last 12 years to graduate from school and be free of the tests and homework and teachers... Then Senior year hits and you are like "OMG! I'm going to be graduating at the end of this year!" Suddenly you don't want the year to end, you wish time would slow down (of course it speeds up), you get all sorts of stress at the thought of trying to launch as an adult, realizing that all your friends are going to be going to different places and you won't see them everyday... You get the picture. Reality hits when the end of the journey is no longer on the distant horizon but in your face and you realize you need to focus on different goals.

Luffy was hit with these jitters after they left Elbaf when he realized that they now could reach Raftel and nothing was standing between him and Pirate Kingship. His lifelong dream was about to be achieved and he briefly thought "Now what?" Of course, Luffy wouldn't have dwelt on it for too long and he would have returned to his usual self shortly thereafter. However, Ann walks into his life just as he is thinking "Now what?" and since he never got over how he failed to save Ace... He now has something to occupy his time after he becomes Pirate King. That is if something doesn't cause him to trip at the finish line and takes it away from him. (Doom!)

On to other matters. The mention of the unspoken rule between captains of not boarding another's ship without permission is something I created. It just seemed like that might be one of those rules between pirates that shows respect. There was nothing to say that was so in One Piece nor was there anything that said it wasn't so either. Just something that was understood and never discussed.


	2. The Bedtime Story

The Bedtime Story January 12, 801 WG

It had been a couple of weeks since Ann joined the ship and it had been a rough transition. Ann was still traumatized by what happened to her mother and being passed on to another crew soon after left her wary and withdrawn. As such, she was having trouble sleeping, her fear summoning nightmares. So Robin acquired a few children's books at their last port and started reading to her before bed as a way to settle her down. This worked beautifully, lulling the frightened little girl into peaceful slumber. However, on the fourth night after Robin starting reading her bedtime stories, Ann took the book from the older woman and marched over to Luffy with it. She then presented the book to Luffy and chirped, "Read, please."

Luffy, stunned, stared at Ann. Ann lifted the book up and said again, "Ji-kun, read, please."

Robin chuckled as Luffy continued to stare uncomprehending. "Luffy, she wants _you_ to read to her tonight," she explained.

"Huuhhh?! No way! Why can't you do it?" Luffy cried.

Robin sighed then called to Ann, "Luffy doesn't want to read right now, but I would love to, Ann."

Ann stomped her feet and put the book on top of her head in a mini tantrum. "No! I want Ji-kun! Ji-kun! Ji-kun!" She bounced with each cry, emphasizing her demand.

Luffy looked down at his niece and flinched. Ann was glaring up at him from beneath the book, green eyes glittering with suppressed tears, her lower lip trembling with barely contained disappointment and stubbornness. Luffy glanced at his crew for support only to find them staring back at him as if he were the scum of the earth, each one clearly believing he should read Ann a bedtime story instead of Robin. Luffy's eyebrow twitched then he straightened his shoulders, preparing to stand his ground on his decision when he glanced back at Ann. The book was now resting its end on the ground, held up right by one hand. The other hand was getting its thumb sucked as Ann leveled her brilliant, shiny green eyes on him in a soul-full pleading gaze. Puppies could not have begged harder.

Luffy's resolve dissolved and, with an exasperated sigh and tossing a nasty look at his now grinning crew, he picked up the book. Ann immediately brightened then giggled and ran in circles around him in delight. He headed into the cabin, shoulders slumped, pouting the whole way. He stalked over to Ann's little bed as she clambered onto it, snuggling into the sheets and pulling her stuffed bear into her lap. Luffy gagged as he hesitated to join her. Her bed was a mess of pink and frills and all things girly, courtesy of Nami. Nami spending money on anyone but herself without so much as a whine was unheard of and Luffy wondered at the power of Ann. Ann saw his hesitation and leveled another soul-full gaze on him. He sat down next to her without another word. She was truly a frightening child. Satisfied, she curled up in the crook of his arm, leaning her head against his chest. Luffy opened the book and grimaced at the page. It wasn't that he couldn't read but he never did it enough to be able to read quickly nor easily. He only ever had to read signs or at most short sentences. Though, the story book was more pictures than words, there were still more words in one space than he usually dealt with.

"Good luck, Luffy," called Robin from outside the door. She had taken a seat next to the entrance where she could peek in without being inside. Why did she have to sit there? This was embarrassing enough without having an audience. Not that true privacy was possible on a ship. The sounds of snickering floated through the open door. Robin was not the source of the suppressed mirth. Gritting his teeth, he stared at the page again and began reciting the words aloud. "On-ce u-ponnn a time... there was an e-vil qu- qu- *pause* queen. She was the most beau- beau- uh? beau-ful-"

"Beautiful," corrected Robin. Luffy turned red. Did she have the book memorized? He wouldn't put it past her, she was always reading when she wasn't cracking heads in her spare time.

"It must be really hard when the only words you really know revolve around food," called Zoro from somewhere on deck. Another outbreak of snickers.

Turning an even darker shade of red, Luffy shouted, "Shut up!" He had half a mind to toss the book and order Robin to read it and Ann to just suck it up. He was a pirate! A captain! He was going to be the Pirate King! Why did he have to read a little girl bedtime stories?

He glanced down at his niece. Ann was looking at him in concern and flinched. She was sucking her thumb again and hugging her bear, drawing away from him subconsciously like he might bite if she moved too quick or stayed too close. The stuffed bear was white and wore an orange jumpsuit, strongly resembling the mink from Law's crew. It even had the Heart's Pirate symbol over its heart.

Luffy hadn't noticed before. Had someone on Law's crew given Ann the bear? Ann hadn't been onboard the Heart's Pirates' submarine for long but they had given her a bear to make her feel safer and more comfortable. Luffy felt his annoyance fade. Law hadn't needed to do that. He had no relation to the girl. Veronica has been working with outdated information when she had asked Law to take Ann. She hadn't realized the Heart's Pirates and the Straw Hat Pirates were no longer allies. Law could have abandoned Ann anywhere. Instead, he had chosen to find Luffy as soon as possible and bring Ann to him. He had delayed his own journey to find the One Piece to find a rival and give him this little girl that had been dumped on him without explanation. And someone on the crew had gone to the effort to make her a stuffed bear so she could feel safer and more comfortable.

Ann was Luffy's dead brother's daughter, the brother he had failed to save at Marineford, Ace. And he was annoyed with her. Annoyed with his beloved brother's little girl who just wanted her uncle to read her a bedtime story. Annoyed because it was hard. Because he never bothered to do more than the minimum to appease Makino and his grandfather. Everything in his life had been hard. Nothing had come easy to him, he had always had to work to get what he now had. Reading was no different than anything else, he just never bothered to try because it was never interesting. Now he had a niece who wanted him to read to her and he was annoyed because it was hard for him to do and not interesting.

Ace had been annoyed by him when they were small. Because he was weak and a crybaby. Because he couldn't fight. Because he was causing him trouble. Ann just wanted to snuggle with her uncle and be read a bedtime story. Compared to what he put Ace through when they were young, this was nothing. Luffy felt ashamed of himself.

With a sigh, he turned back to the book and started again.

It was the most painful hour he had ever spent as he crawled his way through the fairy tale, Robin pitching in when Luffy stumbled over the words. He heard Nami berating the others when they started taunting him again and was grateful that at least someone on his crew was willing to cut him some slack.

When he got to the end he closed the book with a relieved and exhausted sigh. He then looked down at his niece. She was laying against him with her hand holding his shirt, asleep. Luffy reached down to gently lift her off him and onto the bed when he realized she was death-gripping his shirt. Luffy barely suppressed his cry of surprise and tried to work her fingers loose. This only succeeded in getting her to sleepily cling tighter and grip harder.

Oh-no...

Robin chuckled at the sight of Luffy's dismay when she entered the cabin to see what he was doing now that he wasn't reading. "I'll get you an extra pillow and blanket," she said.

Luffy scowled but there was nothing they could do short of waking Ann up. And if he woke her up he would have to read to her again! Luffy decided one night sleeping in the pink princess bed was not going to kill him. He growled, though, when he saw the pillow and blanket Robin brought him, pink and frilly! Seriously! How much did Nami get on her shopping spree that they had spare sets for Ann!

Robin smiled at his furious scowl. "Good night, Luffy!" she said after she placed the pillow behind his head and tucked the blanket around him, careful to avoid the area Ann was snuggled against. Luffy just glared.

Robin was just plain evil sometimes.

Rule 1 of Parenthood: Be a good sport.

/dbre9bd


	3. Betrayed

Betrayed January 22, 801 WG

 **(A warning to my readers! There are potential triggers in this chapter for those who have suffered sexual assault of any kind up to and including rape. While this only shows the aftermath there may be enough information to invoke traumatic memories. Reader discretion is advised.)**

Nami stood on the railing of the Thousand Sunny, showering the decks of the small support craft that surrounded the Singing Ship of the Big Mom Pirates with lightning, wondering how it had come to this. They thought Pudding was their friend. They thought they could trust her! But it had been too long. Pudding was aboard the Singing Ship along with Luffy and Jinbei and they had been there for two hours. Luffy and Jinbei had been on the ship for far too long!

When Pudding appeared, escorted by an armada of small support ships, she said she just wanted to talk. The armada had moved to surround them as she spoke, like a silent threat to the Straw Hats, however, Pudding was nothing but polite to them. The 36th daughter of Big Mom, now leader of the Big Mom pirates, had hinted at an alliance of some kind now that she was establishing herself as a Yonko in her mother's place. It seemed reasonable, Pudding may have been taking over an established group, but the transition was probably shaky. She was not Big Mom and other pirates on the Grandline knew that and they would not hesitate to test her to see if she could hold her own in that position. Wanting to make connections and ally with non-hostile but strong ships would make things easier for her as she worked on her own reputation. Luffy would probably refuse such an alliance, but they could at least listen to her since they had worked with her to bring down Big Mom.

Big Mom had made herself their enemy when she tried to force Sanji into marrying her daughter, Pudding, by threatening the crew and Sanji's mentor. After the initial rescue fell through, Luffy and the other had teamed up with Bege at Jinbei's suggestion. Bege had already spent a year planning to kill Big Mom when the Straw Hats had arrived on Whole Cake Island to rescue Sanji. The plan was to end Big Mom during the wedding, but that hadn't worked out either and everyone had ended up running for their lives. Fortunately, Sanji had charmed the diabolic Pudding with his natural kindness and, when the plan failed, she had rushed to help the Straw Hats escape. The final result of the chaos that followed had been Pudding taking control of the Big Mom pirates and locking her deranged mother away so that she could no longer rampage and threaten the citizens of Tottland again with her cravings. Pudding and the Straw Hats had parted on good terms. From what they understood, Pudding had wasted no time establishing control over her siblings and the Big Mom domain. It was probably all due to her Memo Memo Fruit ability, rewriting everyone's memories to favor her take over and quell any arguments causing things to go more smoothly than they ordinarily would have. However, it wouldn't have been completely without trouble thus her need for more allies.

But these talks should not have taken two hours. Once Luffy made up his mind, there was no changing it. Talking to him about it for two hours would only end with him falling asleep ten minutes into it, so the talks would not carry on for two hours. Jinbei would back up Luffy's decision to not participate and Luffy would want to leave. Two hours meant trouble. One hour meant trouble but Nami and half the crew weren't ready to believe that Pudding was up to no good. Now they hoped their naiveté hadn't doomed Luffy and Jinbei as they struggled to make their way to the Singing Ship so they could discover the fate of their captain and friend.

The side of the ship suddenly exploded and out flew Luffy and Jinbei.

"Luffy!" shouted Nami a wide smile breaking out on her face, then it faded. Luffy had misjudged the jump, not unexpected, and was heading for open water. For one second Nami wasn't concerned, Jinbei was there and he could carry Luffy back to the ship if they fell into the ocean, then she realized Jinbei was motionless. Luffy was grasping the fishman's kimono as they flew through the air, carrying the unconscious fishman along with him. He tossed his head about but didn't seem to see them and began plunging toward the sea. All he had to do was stretch out an arm to grasp the railing of the ship but, for some reason, Luffy wasn't doing it.

" **LUFFY!** " screamed Nami, panicking. Her cry was echoed by Zoro and Sanji as they abandoned fighting Big Mom Pirates and started running across the decks toward their falling captain.

Luffy swung his head toward Nami then hurled a hand toward her. The arm stretched as he reached then, to her horror, bounced off the side of the ship. Nami dropped her weapon and leapt forward, grabbing the ricocheting arm before it could retract. She almost went over the railing but Robin's extra hands bloomed all around the navigator, anchoring her to the ship. Luffy's hand gripped her wrist and she clamped both hands around his as the arm began to retract, pulling on both Nami and Luffy who held Jinbei. Zoro and Sanji saw and changed course for their ship. The two leapt on board just as Luffy collided with the railing and bounced both Nami and Jinbei half way across the deck. Jinbei rolled but didn't stir. Nami sprawled on the grass and Luffy landed on top of her.

"Luffy! You bastard!" yelled Sanji. No doubt protesting both the rough landing and the fact that Luffy had landed face first onto Nami breasts.

"Run," Luffy gasped.

Nami sat up and Luffy slumped onto her lap. He was hot and sweaty, much more than she expected for a battle. His lungs heaved as if he had been running a marathon. She turned him over, his hair was plastered to his skin and his eyes refused to focus. She cradled him and said, "Luffy, what happened?"

"Run," Luffy gasped again. "Get me away... from her. She drugged me. So please. Run."

"Franky!" shouted Nami. "Get us out of here!"

"On it!"

Nami felt the ship turning and the engine roaring to life as Franky fired the Coo-Do-Burst. The last glimpse she had of the Singing Ship, she spied Pudding looking out the opening Luffy had made. She was wearing a black and purple robe, not the dress of midnight blue from before. _What?_ Then the image was shrinking rapidly in the distance as Sunny flew through the sky. Nami pushed the image from her mind and refocused on what was before her. Luffy's temperature was rising.

"Chopper!" she shouted.

At the same time, Robin called, "Jinbei's fine, he's just asleep, probably a tranquilizer of some kind."

"Chopper!" Nami shouted again. The reindeer turned away from the unconscious Fishman.

"Nami?"

"Luffy's in trouble. His temperature is rising and I don't think he can see," she cried.

Chopper yelped and ran over. "Luffy!" he cried once he arrived at his side. "What's wrong?" Luffy's breathing was growing more labored. He didn't seem able to answer anymore. He had used the last of his strength just to order them to flee.

"He said something about being drugged but this seems more like poison to me," said Nami.

"Drugs can be poisons if mishandled," said Chopper. He pulled out a stethoscope and placed it against Luffy's chest. Chopper grimaced as he listened then said, "His heartbeat is rapid and irregular and he's sweating profusely."

 _No kidding._ Nami's pants were already soaked through and the sweat rolling off his neck was sliding down her arm. Ordinarily, she would be disgusted, but, right now, she was worried, frightened even, for her captain and friend.

"No good, I need to run some tests first to see what she gave him. I can't tell from these symptoms alone," said Chopper. He grew big, transforming into his heavy point, and lifted their captain from her arms. Nami rose and ran ahead to open the door to his medical office for him. Chopper ducked inside and laid Luffy down on the room's one and only bed. Nami stripped off the dripping rag that had been his shirt and pulled off his sandals. Chopper shrank again and rummaged through his desk, pulling out an empty syringe. He turned back to Nami. "I need to draw some of his blood, can you hold his arm for me, Nami?"

"Yes, here," she said and quickly restrained Luffy's right arm. Chopper pricked Luffy's skin with the needle. Luffy gasped and cried out weakly. "Luffy, don't move," cried Nami as she felt his muscles bunch. If he fought her, she would not be able to hold him. He groaned and force his muscles to relax. Chopper finished and pressed the prick site to prevent bleeding. Once he was certain the tiny hole had clotted properly, he took a cotton swab and soaked it in Luffy's sweat.

"It will take me a bit to run all the tests to see what he has if I don't get lucky in the first few," said Chopper.

"I'll get a bucket of ice water and a cloth to try to bring his temperature down in the mean time," said Nami.

"Luffy probably will need water to drink as well. With all of this sweating, he's dehydrating very quickly," he said. Nami nodded and ran out of the room to get the water while Chopper turned to his equipment to test for the drug Pudding had given Luffy.

Hours slid by as Chopper worked to discover what Pudding had done to their captain. However, as midnight approached, Chopper sat back with a resigned sigh. Nami looked up from her place by Luffy's bed where she had been wiping his face and chest down with a chilled rag.

"It's no good," said Chopper. Nami glanced back. "It wasn't one drug, it was several, and they're interacting with one another. All my tests are being thrown by the interaction."

"Can you still figure out what they were?" asked Nami, not wanting to believe there was no help for Luffy.

"I figured out enough to realize I can't undo this," said Chopper, tears coming to his eyes. "The counter for one enhances another and will alter a third. It's a huge mess!"

"So we can do nothing but wait this out?" said Nami.

Chopper nodded as the tears started to fall. "I can't give him anything even to help with the symptoms. It'll just make it worse!"

Nami felt fear and despair fill her heart. She was exhausted, drained by her worry and the earlier fight. She was struggling to keep her eyes open as she worked to lower Luffy's sky high temperature. He had only grown worse over the hours. She looked back at Luffy as he continued to shudder and convulse, sweat continuing to pour from every pore, the straw mattress he lay on was soaked through. She pulled a second cloth from the bucket of ice water and laid it against Luffy's forehead before turning to the pitcher on the table and using it to fill a small cup with water. The crew had been changing out the water for her so she could tend to Luffy. Robin and Sanji had both offered to take her place at Luffy bedside but Nami had simply shook her head. It would have been smart to accept the exchange but Nami didn't think she could relax while Luffy fought for his life.

Nami raised Luffy's head and pressed the cup to his lips. He brought up his own hand and placed it over hers as he sipped the water, as he did every time she did this, the only sign that he was still conscious. Once the water was gone she laid him back down. She had been doing this every ten minutes and each time his grip was weaker than the last. She barely felt his touch this time while she held the cup up. Without a way to neutralize the drugs, would Luffy even survive 'til morning?

A hand took hers in a weak grip and she looked down. Luffy's eyes were open, though they remained unfocused and sightless. "Don't worry, Nami," Luffy whispered. "I'll be just fine."

Nami felt her tears begin to overflow. She hastily rubbed her eyes with her free hand and snapped, "Of course you will be, stupid. You're the man who is going to become the pirate king. Besides, you wouldn't do something so mean as leave your niece behind, especially so soon after she lost her mom, right?" Nami could hear her voice cracking. Dammit! She needed to be strong for him yet, even now, he was trying to reassure her. The memory of his big fight with Katakuri in the mirror world filled her mind, Luffy had trapped himself there to fight the Sweet Commander so the Sunny and crew could escape. The shard of mirror had been their only means to communicate with him and he done everything in his power to hide the fact he was getting pummeled. He hadn't wanted them to worry about him. He was doing the same thing now.

Nami pulled free of his grip, took the now hot cloth form his head and dunked it back into the ice water bucket. She took the first cloth and rubbed it against his chest with the ice water dripping over him. Luffy gasped and his spine arched, the drugs had made him sensitive to touch, she had learned over that past few hours.

"Nami, I'm going to refill the pitcher for you," said Chopper in a subdued voice. "I can't do anything else now." Nami grimaced at Chopper's defeated tone then nodded. The little reindeer took the pitcher and removed himself from the room. He would no doubt tell the others his sad news.

Nami wished she had the words to comfort him. It wasn't his fault. This was beyond any doctor's ability to rectify. Except maybe Law, but he had the Op Op Fruit that would allow him to directly remove the drugs from Luffy's body. Without that ability, he would be just as helpless as Chopper. Besides, there was no point comparing the two. Law wasn't here after all.

As Nami continued to wash Luffy's chest with the cold cloth, Luffy writhed and hissed. His right hand gripped the edge of the mattress while his left clawed at the wall. His head rolled and his bare feet slid up and down on the bed. He had been doing this all night when she rubbed his chest with the washcloth. She and Chopper had assumed he was in pain and she had tried to be as gentle as possible to lessen his suffering but that only seemed to make it worse.

The cloth had warmed again and she stopped and turned to the ice water bucket for the second cloth as she put the first back in. Nami sighed and stared at Luffy. What had Pudding done to him? Why had she done it? Maybe Luffy wouldn't commit to being an ally of a Yonko but he would never abandon a friend. If Pudding had needed help, he would have answered. So why? Why did she do the one thing that would guarantee they would never help her? Why did she make them her enemy? Nami lightly traced the scar on Luffy's chest as she pondered Pudding's motivation. It was an absent-minded thing to do. Luffy gasped, shuddered then snatched her wrist, startling her.

"Nami, stop," he gasped. He quickly released her and closed his eyes but not before Nami had a good look at them. In that moment, the pupils had been dilated. Nami knew that look but only because the line of work she had prior to meeting the Straw Hats had exposed her to all sorts of situations. Arousal. Her light touch on his sensitive skin was causing him to be aroused. Then understanding snapped into place and she felt her blood turn to ice with the realization. Luffy's sensitivity wasn't due to pain but pleasure. He was fighting to control his responses every time she touched him. And if he was fighting it, then it was an artificial feeling brought on by the drugs coursing through his veins.

Nami plunged both her hands into the ice cold water with enough forced to splash her face with the freezing liquid. She was glad Luffy couldn't see her; she was red with embarrassment and rage. She'd raped him! Pudding had raped Luffy in the only way a woman could rape a man, especially one as strong as Luffy, through chemical control.

Pudding had incapacitated him but left him conscious. She then had dosed him up on a concoction of aphrodisiacs that made him more sensitive to her touches and highly responsive. If Luffy's mind had maintained any degree of awareness it must have been a nightmare. To have no say in the matter, to be forced to have sex with someone he was not interested in, to be unable to escape the situation...

Nami had been fortunate to avoid such scenarios but she knew of others who hadn't. The shame and revulsion they felt about themselves for the acts committed against them were wrong since they were the victims but it was universal. As if it had somehow been their fault, it was especially strong among the male victims. Some pirates used sex as a form of domination over their victims, not pleasure, and for the men this was especially spirit breaking.

Nami took a deep breath to try to calm her outrage. She pulled the cloth out and laid it across his torso, placing pieces of the remaining ice on it. She would need a new ice water bucket sooner than usual but she needed to speak with Luffy while he wasn't being stimulated.

"Luffy," Nami whispered, glad Chopper was out of the room. Luffy opened his eyes and turned his head in her direction. The pupils were normal again. Good.

"Luffy, what did Pudding want?" Nami asked. She felt like a villain interrogating her captain while he was weak and suffering, but she needed to understand what had motivated Pudding to do all this. They had thought of Pudding as a friend and she had betrayed them in the worse way possible. How many other "friends" were going to turn on them? If she knew Pudding's motivation they might be able to determine who the other betrayers would be and avoid leaving themselves vulnerable again.

Luffy remained silent for a moment then replied in a low voice, "She wanted the information on the Road Poneglyphs. She wanted to become the Pirate King as a means of establishing herself. To take what her mother could not and surpass her in greatness." His words were halting and broken. He had to inhale every few words as he continued to struggle to breathe. Nami's guilt rose but she continued anyway.

So it had come down to being the Pirate King, however... "But you didn't have that information," said Nami. Luffy was such an idiot and so terrible at keeping secrets that she and Robin kept the information to themselves. Luffy trusted them to lead him to Raftel so he never tried to learn the information of the Poneglyphs himself.

"I knew who did, though. I didn't want her to come after you. So I refused to tell her anything, not even the fact that I didn't know that information," replied Luffy.

Nami paused to retrieve the second cloth and put it on Luffy forehead then placed more ice chips on the first cloth. She would have to wipe him down soon but right now she needed answers. "Why didn't she just steal that information from your mind? Why use drugs to loosen your tongue when she could use her devil fruit abilities to take it easily?"

Relief flickered for a moment across his face then vanished. _Shame and revulsion_ , thought Nami. Shame for being caught in such a trap, shame for allowing this to happen, shame for being too weak to stop it, shame for _liking_ it even though it was the drugs causing that. Revulsion at himself for everything. Nami's "misunderstanding" of what he had been drugged with was allowing Luffy some control over his situation. He was now free to decide if and when he wanted to divulge the truth. Considering how he felt, it wouldn't surprise Nami if he kept it a secret forever. The thought made her sad even as it stoked the fires of hate. Luffy couldn't keep secrets, yet she believed he would keep this one. If he did, then that meant this terrible event had already begun to change him from the happy-go-lucky captain she admired and loved.

"She couldn't," he said, pulling her from her troubling thoughts.

"Huh?"

"She couldn't. She tried but I used my Haki to block her," Luffy clarified.

Nami was impressed, she didn't think Armament Haki could do that. Not like she knew how Armament Haki worked, she couldn't use it herself after all. She knew it helped to defend against physical attacks and allowed a person to hit a logia type devil fruit user. She hadn't realized it could block the special abilities of devil fruit users.

"So she was using the drugs to chisel away your willpower so she could gain access," said Nami. That had to be it. The rape had been to weaken Luffy's resolve, to break his will so that she could raid his mind for her answers. Then she would have come for the crew. How Luffy had escaped was probably tied to the crew's attack. It must have distracted her from Luffy, giving Luffy time to recover his thoughts and force himself to move. It had to have taken an incredible amount of willpower to hold out for two hours and still manage to take advantage of the diversion his crew had unwittingly provided. Nami nibbled her lower lip, they should have attacked sooner.

"Your amazing," said Nami as she pulled the cloths off his head and chest and placed them in the bucket that no longer had any ice and was very low in water. "Luffy, you are amazing," she repeated. Luffy's spirit was fragile, his confidence shot to hell. Nami imagined it was probably almost as bad as when Ace was killed. She chose her words with care and said them with sincerity and admiration. Luffy needed the reassurance, the praise, if he was to begin to recover. Back then, Jinbei had gotten Luffy to focus on what he still had. This time she needed him to focus on what he had done successfully. "Despite everything she was doing, you didn't reveal anything. You didn't give away anything. You were even able to escape when the opportunity presented itself. You recognized the opportunity. I don't know if anyone else could have managed all of that. Luffy, this wasn't your mistake. We all fucked up today not just you. But you are suffering the worse for this. We'll be more careful in the future, all of us will. So just focus on getting these drugs out of your body, okay?"

Luffy gave her a small smile and said, "Thanks." He closed his eyes and trying his best to rest. If Nami hadn't figured out what really happened she would have wondered about that "thanks". She turned toward the door and frowned. Chopper was taking too long in returning with the pitcher. Not that she minded too much because it had given her and Luffy plenty of privacy for their talk, but she needed a new bucket of ice and there was no one to call on. She looked at Luffy then picked up the bucket. Waiting was not an option. It would be faster to get the ice herself and Luffy needed it sooner not later.

Her hand was on the doorknob when a strange sensation filled the cabin. Her skin pricked with cold, the air suddenly chill. The light on the desk dimmed and flickered. There was the faintest breath of air that kissed the back of her neck. Fear gripped her heart. The shadows deepened and she thought she heard the sounds of ominous whispers, too low for her to be certain they were even voices of people. Then everything was suddenly normal again. The chill was gone, the light returned and silence dominated the cabin.

Nami's heart stopped as a new fear took her and she spun to look at Luffy. His breathing was no longer heavy or struggling and a pasty white ooze covered his skin and began to gather and slide slowly down his sides. What? She rushed over to him. Taking the cloths out of the nearly empty water bucket, she began wiping down his face and body until the cloths were a ruined mess of white ooze. She was careful not to touch it as she dumped the two cloths back in the bucket.

"Luffy?" she whispered. He didn't stir. She placed a hand on his cheek, his temperature was cooler than it was only a few minutes ago. She moved it to his neck to check his pulse, it was there but slowing. "Luffy!" she cried again, alarm growing. Was this it? Was he dying right now? His breathing, now faint, was growing more shallow by the second.

The door opened and in walked Sanji with a fresh bucket of ice. "Nami-san, are you sure you don't-. Oi! Nami-san, what happened?" he cried when he looked at her.

Nami realized she was crying but didn't care. "He won't wake up and he's growing colder!"

Sanji dropped the bucket, the contents spilling across the floor, and rushed forward. He checked Luffy's vitals as Nami had. She didn't take offense, a second set of eyes may see what she had missed in her panic. "What's this slime?" he asked, noticing the ooze that was on the cloths, mattress and Luffy's pants.

"I don't know. It just appeared on him a minute ago. The same time his temperature dropped," she replied.

Sanji looked between the ooze and Luffy and said in a calm voice, "This might be an affect of the drugs being processed. He's no longer radiating heat, so let's get him off this soaked mattress before he catches a chill. We'll bring him to the shower to wash him off in warm water and get him into fresh dry clothes." Nami nodded feeling calmer at Sanji's direction. Maybe it really was just the fever finally breaking and Luffy was actually going to be okay. As the cook lifted his captain into his arms he grimaced at the mess that was the bed. "We'll probably need to burn that."

Nami grunted in agreement as she rushed to open the door for Sanji. She clung to the desperate hope that Sanji was correct. The crew was outside, apparently none of them could sleep. Jinbei was also awake. Nami didn't know when that happened but by his troubled expression he was probably wracked by guilt over the whole mess. Chopper was sobbing by Robin, apparently having forgotten he was supposed to be getting a pitcher of water for Nami. Ann was curled up by Usopp, crushing her bear. When the pair emerged with Luffy in Sanji's arms, they all rose.

"What are you doing, Sanji?" wailed Chopper.

"The fever broke, we need to get him cleaned up and dry and that bed needs to be tossed," replied Sanji as he began marching up the stairs to their bathhouse.

"Oi, let me help you, Sanji," called Usopp and he ran over.

Ann stood up but Robin called, "Stay here, Ann. Your uncle is getting better but he is still sick." Ann looked over at Robin and crushed her bear even harder. Robin then shouted up to Sanji, "I'll bring a change of clothes for all of you."

"Appreciate it, Robin-chan," replied Sanji.

"I'll take care of clean up," said Franky and he headed over to Chopper's room.

Sanji turned to Nami once they were outside the door. "Ordinarily, I'd say ladies first but..."

Nami went red as she realized what the problem was. "Go ahead, Sanji, I was going to take a shower after Luffy anyway," she said and meant it. Sanji went through the door and Usopp zipped in behind him. Seconds later she heard the shower turn on. Nami sighed.

Franky emerged from room with the mattress and tossed it overboard. Then Robin emerged from the bunks with neatly folded clothes in her arms. Nami recognized the red piece of cloth as being the yukata that Luffy had acquired in Wano. She smiled, the yukata would be comfortable and not too warm for him. Robin walked up to door then used her extra hands to place a set next to Nami.

"Thanks," said Nami.

Robin smiled at her then called to the men inside, "I have the outfits you need."

"Thanks, Robin-chan!" replied Sanji. Usopp appeared at the door and took the clothes from her. He disappeared back inside and it was just Robin and Nami.

Robin settled on the railing. "Are you all right, Nami?"

"That three-eyed bitch wanted to know where Raftel is. Luffy somehow fended her off but all this is from her attempting to break him," said Nami. Robin stared in surprise then frowned. "We're going to have to chose our friends with care from now on," Nami continued. "We have two things people will want. Ann and the way to Raftel. Though, right now no one knows about Ann but it's only a matter of time. I wonder how long we can keep it a secret."

"Yes, I wonder as well," said Robin. "Once it is revealed that the line of Gold Roger didn't die out in the Paramount War we'll have no peace. Luffy was correct not to let everyone leave the ship. Pudding was not to be trusted after all."

"Yes, how sad that was," agreed Nami and she now found herself worrying about Law, the only rival who knew about Ann, and what that might mean for them going forward.

(Notes)

"A Matter of Trust" and "Pluton" occurs after this entry. Cut over to "A Matter of Trust" and "Pluton", in that order, before continuing with chapter 4.

Thank you.

The Whole Cake Island conclusion given in this chapter as history is based on an old theory of mine regarding Whole Cake Island a couple years ago that was quickly debunked. I decided to go along with it for the sake of writing Dark Sea Chronicles. Hence the divergence that starts at Manga chapter 879.


	4. A Fool's Faith

February 6, 801 WG – July 18, 801 WG

Bartolomeo would never be considered the wisest of men. No, no one would even mistake him for someone that possessed an ounce of common sense. What wise man would head out to sea with no practical sea knowledge and not even the sense to recruit someone who did? All to follow after a young man who happened to have a miracle fall upon him the day he was supposed to die. Bartolomeo and a gaggle of similarly giddy fan boys. Then to put forward time and money to craft a ship in homage to said legend, and still fail to get the details right.

"A" for effort… No more like a "B" for effort. How does one fail to obtain the correct type of citrus tree and give the gentle Merry angry eyes if they put in a sufficient effort?

In all honesty Bartolomeo, the rudest, crudest rookie pirate on the sea should never have made it to Saboady, never mind New World. Yet it seemed fortune smiled upon him and he lucked his way through what may have been the easiest route to New World. Or else some god of mischief favored his particular brand of chaos and showed mercy. Maybe his Barrier Barrier Fruit was just too important to dispose of even if the wielder was so unseemly.

Then again, being unseemly was why he could wield it so effectively. Truly whether some devil fruits shine like the sun or were nameless duds depended on their wielder's creativity.

However the man made it, he made it, and even received the chance to meet his idol. Even better for him, unlike when most meet their heroes only to be profoundly disappointed in the revelation of their human flaws and traits, his hero continued to exceed Bartolomeo's inflated expectations for him without even an ounce of delusion required.

Bartolomeo was even able to swear allegiance to the man, as did several other captains similarly inspired by the event in Dressrosa. It was a dream come true to sail with the Straw Hat flag of the alliance hanging off his bow and the precious vivre card protected under domed glass to always indicate the direction his hero was at all times.

Then the unthinkable happened.

One night, Bartolomeo awoke to the frantic shouts of his watchman. The vivre card, the piece of paper tied directly to the life force of Monkey D. Luffy, vanished. The glass dome was unbroken, and they had purposely made the thing so there was no way it could be removed without some damage being done to the container. How could Luffy-senpai's vivre card have disappeared?

"Did… did Luffy-senpai die?" stuttered a subordinate in the bewildered silence. This resulted in the immediate beatdown of the poor soul who had dared to voice the taboo thought. However, once voiced it could not be un-voiced. Was no other explanation available? Bartolomeo spent the rest of the night with his crew fretting about the outcome of his beloved hero. All his calls to the Straw Hats went unanswered, not helping his state of mind in the least.

Come morning, the arrival of the New Coos brought both trepidation and anticipation as the sleepless crew sought the item it carried to see if the World Economy News Paper could shed light on the mysterious vanishing of the Luffy-sempai's vivre card. Yet the newspaper blathered on about anything but the Straw Hats. Which itself was telling even as it told them nothing.

"What? If Luffy-senpai is dead how could they not report it?!" yelled Bartolomeo as he crunched the useless bundle of world news, unwittily voicing the very sentiment that had earned his subordinate a black eye. "How could the supposed death of one of the greatest pirates alive not make the newspaper?! If Luffy-senpai had really fallen, then it should be here!"

The rest of his crew nodded their heads in agreement. The safest activity considering their captain's state of mind but, being a collection of Luffy-senpai's greatest fans, they also agreed with everything he said without coercion.

Now, a wiser man, at this point, would have accepted the signs that his beloved hero had perished in some unknown event. That the incredible luck the future Pirate King had to have in abundance had finally run out. A wiser man would have bitterly cursed a fate that would take down his beloved hero without so much as a whisper to mark the occasion. Someone like his hero, who lived life out loud, should never die in silence. A wiser man would have moved on. After all, whatever took down the future Pirate King without a whisper would devour him whole more easily.

Bartolomeo was not a wise man by any stretch of the imagination.

Determined to find answers, Bartolomeo began to call all his fellow Straw Hat allies. Each were equally baffled by the loss of their respective vivre cards and the lack of news concerning their chosen leader. How could a crazy, miracle-working crew like that just vanish without anyone knowing anything?

While the various captains began to fall into the wiser man's cursing of the fates, Bartolomeo had other ideas.

"The World Government must have created another crazy device. One that can prevent vivre cards from locating their source!" he declared with the confidence only fools could know.

The rest of the captains could only stare in disbelief.

"You actually believe that?" asked the giant, Hajrudin. It didn't sound like criticism.

Bartolomeo beat his chest to show his resolve. "Vegapunk is always coming up with crazy stuff like that." He had no examples but that didn't stop him. "Don't you think, for the World Government, it would be useful to have a device that could interfere with the interaction between a person and their vivre card?"

"On these seas," said the long arm, Ideo, "that would be devastating and useful. If you had a captive and knew he had allies that would search for him, you wouldn't want people to find them."

"They just lock him up in Impel Down and fortify the prison like they did with Fire-Fist," said Sai, the new leader of the Happo Navy.

"But dear! Mugiwara was able to invade and escape Impel Down two years ago with hundreds of allies!" cried Baby 5, Sai's wife and former member of Doflamingo's crew.

Bartolomeo wasn't quite sure how those two wound up married but she was an ally now. Just more proof of Luffy-senpai's charisma and greatness.

"True," replied Sai.

"Not everyone made it out, so he still has allies that would rush in to save him within Impel Down. I'm sure the Marines know that," said Cavendish, the self-proclaimed beauty and sleepwalking psycho killer. His Den Den Mushi had a rose clutched in its own teeth as it spoke and sent off sparkles. Did he have that custom made?

"They probably need time without fear of early reprisal to set the execution up," said Orlumbus, the leader of the largest section of the Straw Hat Grandfleet with his former exploration fleet, the Yonta Maria Grandfleet. He seemed like the type who would understand politics better than the rest of them. "Unlike with Fire-Fist, they'll be expecting not only us but Dragon's Revolutionary Army. I doubt the man will allow his son to be killed. Besides they may want to repeat what they accomplished two years ago. They may want Dragon to appear so they can kill him as they did White Beard."

"Have they actually recovered from Paramount? They lost so many men of quality. Would two years really give them enough time to train up replacements of the same caliber?" asked Cavendish.

Leo, the dwarf and leader of the Tontatta Pirates stationed on Dressrosa, wasn't contributing much to the discussion. They didn't have much world knowledge and tended to believe whatever was said. This meant they believed Bartolomeo's words as if they were fact and not mere speculation of a group refusing to accept their beloved hero may be dead. He had mainly been expressing his groups shock and awe over various statements and agreeing with whatever sounded right. The one thing the rest could count on, though, is if they decided to march into Hell to save Luffy-senpai the little ones would lead the charge themselves, whether the rest wanted them to or not.

"Hmm… I know we don't think it's possible for Mugiwara to be in Impel Down," said Sai, sounding thoughtful, "but why don't you, Leo, and the other Tontatta Pirates find a way to check the place. They could have just placed him in isolation and the lack of word is to prevent the occupants of Impel Down from realizing the truth."

"Hah! That's an excellent idea, Sai! We'll head out right now to search Impel Down for Luffyland!" cried Leo, cheers echoed from beyond him.

"Do you, dwarves, even know where Impel Down is?!" cried Cavendish.

"Uh?"

Everyone facepalmed. Of course not. While using the little guys to search Impel Down was brilliant, getting them there undetected would be a trick. The infamous prison lay on the other side of one of the Gates of Justice within the Calm Belt surrounded by deadly Sea Kings.

"It's a good idea to have Leo scout the place, but let's make sure we actually get the right location first," said Ideo. "If we're going to need to invade just to get the dwarves over to the island, then I would like it be the one he's expected at. Otherwise the Marines will figure it out. They know about the dwarves after all. They might not expect it the first time but…"

"Agreed," said Sai. "We need a general location first. So how we get that information?"

With everyone in agreement that Luffy-senpai was being held in secret somewhere while the Marines prepared for his execution, there was only one thing to do.

"We ask," replied Bartolomeo with a big fanged-filled grin.

Storm every Marine base in New World until they found Luffy-senpai and the others or found someone who knew where they were.

It was a rather busy few weeks which, alas, generated no leads, but it did make the front page of every issue of the World Economy News Paper. It was even a lot of fun, if one stopped worrying about Luffy-senpai for a moment and just enjoyed the destruction and chaos being wreaked. Bartolomeo even peed on the face of a particularly snotty vice-admiral.

Not Garp, naturally. He would never disrespect the grandfather of Luffy-senpai and Ace-dai-senpai, even if he was a Marine.

This vice-admiral was younger and something about his whole attitude had reeked of privilege and justice and somehow reminded him also of Akainu, a nose-in-the-air kind of Akainu. Which wasn't Akainu at all. That lava bastard at least kept his nose level when he looked down on pirates. This Marine hadn't as he told them off for attacking his base. Which made it ridiculously easy to take him down. How could anyone think it was a good idea to look up when the enemy was right in front of you?

That Marine had squawked so loud when Bartolomeo pissed on him. Still didn't give up any answers even as he whined about the disgusting, uncivilized deed. Maybe he hadn't known anything, still felt great to piss on him. So Bartolomeo guzzled a gallon of water just so he could piss on him a second time.

"Really, no one knew where Luffy-senpai was?" asked Bartolomeo as the Grandfleet representatives held another teleconference. They had met once a week to review targets. They were now out of bases, save one.

"It's possible only a handful of elites know anything," offered Sai. "Maybe Mugiwara is already at New Marineford with Akainu guarding him."

Everyone groaned. That was not good. Akainu was a tough bastard and New Marineford had been built to withstand an even stronger force than what arrived during Paramount. At least that was the rumor, who knew the reality. Just more World Government hype with no actual substance? Not likely, they didn't hype their tech, just their image.

"So, should we be talking to Dragon and organizing a raid of New Marineford?" asked Ideo. "It's going to be difficult with just us. Large as we are, we aren't White Beard level yet."

"Does anyone know how to contact the elusive Revolutionary Leader?" asked Cavendish.

Silence

"How about Dai-senpai?" asked Bartolomeo, feeling frustrated. Sabo-dai-senpai and blown out of town too fast for anyone to get his number. How was he supposed to uphold his vow to rescue Luffy-senpai if there was no way to contact him when his little brother was in need of help?

Into the gloomy quiet, Hajrudin spoke. "Perhaps they have him on a mobile prison. Much harder to track without knowledge of the ship's route or a vivre card of someone onboard. And they can change course if they get word of trouble ahead."

"The vivre cards' destruction would be absolutely essential then to prevent anyone from locating Mugiwara," exclaimed Cavendish with delight. The delight due to their not being out of options.

"What if there isn't?" asked Ideo, throwing a wet blanket on the scene.

"Then we send Tontatto Pirates into Impel Down," said Sai.

"We're ready to invade whenever you need!" called Leo. Cheers erupted in the background that sounded like, "For Luffyland and Usoppland!"

"Maybe we could hit all the bases in Paradise next!" exclaimed Baby 5 with a giggle.

That was an option and one the whole group could embrace. Blowing up Marine bases was fun and there was still no news of a capture or a pending execution. How long does it take to set up for an execution anyway? Ace only had a week before they were stringing him up. Maybe they were still hurting from Paramount War. Hmm… Time to hurt them some more before the main show.

It was time to hit Marine battleships. They'd save Marineford for absolute last, since no one wanted to deal with Akainu.

Everyone cracked knuckles and grinned like fiends. At least this way they were seriously damaging the Marines' fighting capability for the big battle if they wound up not finding Luffy-senpai before the execution. Maybe Sabo-dai-senpai will have reached out to them with a plan of action by then.

It ended up being more of the same. Lots of destruction. Lots of disrespected Marines. No answers.

Well, not true, one commander had babbled about Mugiwara and Law blowing up Vegapunk's island, but why wasn't something that big in the newspaper? Morgans loved Luffy-senpai. He would never fail to print a story of the future Pirate King causing destruction to another major World Government facility. And would Law and Luffy-senpai be working together now that their alliance was over? They were only allied to take care of Kaido and were otherwise supposed to be rivals for the throne.

Everyone dismissed it as a lie, more Marine fabrications to get them to stop their hunt for their beloved leader. And so, the destruction continued.

Then Bartolomeo's own luck ran out and he found himself face to face with an admiral. Worse, it was the same one he had faced in Dressrosa, Fujitora.

Fujitora was annoyed that his ship was being attacked right after returning to New World and he flattened the pirates with his gravity control.

"You and the other Straw-Hat allies have been causing a lot of problems here in New World," he stated casually, as if he were discussing the weather, while he kept his sword held out over the troublesome lot.

"Where is Luffy-senpai?! What have you done with him?!" demanded Bartolomeo from where he lay pinned on his belly. This was an admiral, he had to know something.

"Mugiwara? He's in Paradise right now, probably visiting old friends," replied Fujitora sounding only slightly confused.

"You mean you have him in Impel Down after all!" Damn they should have hit that place first.

Fujitora studied Bartolomeo as only a blindman could then said, "What makes you think he's been captured? I can assure you that isn't the case at all. It wasn't reported but he was involved in that recent dust up in Alabasta several weeks ago. He'll be returning shortly, I'm sure." The admiral tilted his head. "Though, now that I've caught you, you probably won't get to see him again anyway."

However, the Happo Navy arrived just then, and Bartolomeo and his crew escaped in the confusion caused by the new attackers.

Once they were all safely away from the gravity controlling admiral, Bartolomeo relayed what the man had said.

"Sounds like we need to try contacting them again. We just assumed when we couldn't reach them before that they couldn't be reached and didn't try again," said Sai with a grunt.

Bartolomeo wasted no time in trying to raise his beloved hero on the Den Den Mushi.

The lack of wisdom was in abundance with this group. The wise man would have read the signs, given up on the survival of the future Pirate King and moved on.

It only took three rings to pick up and Bartolomeo nearly fainted when he heard the voice on the other end.

"Hello, this is Monkey D. Luffy, I'm going to be King of the Pirates."

"Going?" A spoke from beyond Luffy-senpai. It was irritatingly familiar as well unexpected.

"Is that Law? What the hell is that man doing on Luffy-senpai's ship?" Bartolomeo gnashed his teeth as he spoke.

"Hello to you, too, Crest Head"

"YOU DON'T GET TO CALL ME THAT!"

"Well about that…" started Luffy-senpai, ignoring the exchange between Law and Bartolomeo, before another voice cut him off.

"Is this line secure?"

"Nami!"

"Is it?"

"No. Why? What happened, Nami-senpai? The vivre card just vanished one night. Why did it vanish?" Bartolomeo was babbling and began sobbing when he mentioned the vivre card vanishing.

"Lots of stuff happened and…" Luffy-senpai started only to be cut off again by what sounded like the receiver being grabbed. "Nami!"

"Not over an unsecured line! We don't want the whole eavesdropping ocean to hear this. We'll tell you all about it at that place."

"That place?" repeated Bartolomeo, confused.

" _That place_! But it will be a few weeks before we can get there so don't cause Leo and the others any trouble if you have to wait."

"Oh… _That place_." Bartolomeo understood and just managed to not say the name of Dressrosa out loud. "I understand Nami-senpai, we'll meet at _that place_."

The line went dead and Bartolomeo began to call around to inform the rest of the allies of the conversation he'd just had with Luffy-senpai. They all had questions that he wanted answers to as well. So they would meet at Dressrosa.

Wait, did he just say that over an unsecure line? Whateer. They would just have to clear the waters of Marines ahead of Luffy-senpai's arrival. If there were enough ships still intact to cause trouble after these last few months.

Why hadn't Luffy-senpai called sooner to let them know he was all right. He didn't sound surprised about the vivre cards. Well they would know soon enough.

A few weeks later as the Grandfleet began gathering off the coast of Dressrosa, the Den Den Mushi rang. Bartolomeo answered and it was Luffy-senpai again, he swooned until he realized that his beloved hero was sounding depressed.

"We're not going to be able to meet when we said we would."

"Luffy-senpai! Why not?" wailed Bartolomeo. "What happened now? You can't just not tell us what's going on when we're this worried about you."

Before he could answer, Nami-senpai stole the receiver again. "Is the line secure?"

They were really worried about that, but this time Bartolomeo was prepared. Or, more accurately, Sai had made sure they were prepared. He and his brother, at least, could understand the need to not broadcast delicate matters across the entire eavesdropping ocean. Once assured that the line was encrypted, Luffy-senpai was allowed to continue.

Luffy-senpai then explained, in a sheepish tone, that he needed to get King Neptune and his people to a new island home. He had accidentally blown up Fishman Island while defending it from a nasty set of rookies who wanted to capture and sell mermaids. That was taking priority right now since they had Sea Kings pulling a huge ship called Noah with the entire Fishman Island population onboard.

"So, does anyone know of any good islands that the Fishmen and Mermaids could live comfortably on?" asked Luffy-senpai when he was done.

No one batted an eye at Luffy-senpai accidentally destroying the undersea island. They had seen what he had done to the capital when he defeated Doflamingo. That level of destruction was to be expected from the great Luffy-senpai.

The question was relayed and passed among the many members of the fleet before someone from Orlumbus's Yonta Maria Grandfleet mentioned that they had stumbled across a hard to locate island on the edge of the Calm Belt and Grandline in New World that had a huge coral reef surrounding it several years ago.

The interior was full of ravenous beasts, so no one lived there, but the reef was safe. Sea Kings didn't bother with it despite its location. The island had been named Amador and it was a trick to figure out the route that would lead to it. However, Orlumbus made Eternal Poses for every unoccupied island he came across. The Grandfleet decided to meet up with Noah and all would go to this Amador together.

And along the way, Luffy-senpai could tell them exactly what happened to him during these past few months.

So, this time the wise man was the fool and the fool the wisest of all. But isn't that how it is with anything that comes into contact with a certain Pirate King?

88888888888888888888888888888

I hope you enjoyed that little side trip with Bartolomeo. This was my way trying to figure out what the heck the Straw Hat Grandfleet was doing after Luffy's vivre card burnt up.

So this actually covers what happens in the background of "A Matter of Trust", "Pluton" and, the unwritten at this time, "Shard of the Moon".

I should probably have one from Coby's perspective, where the Marines are trying to figure out what the heck is going on with the Straw Hat Grandfleet while dealing with the fallout from both it and the incident in Alabasta. Maybe I'll be inspired again.

This one kind of came out one night and the barebones was banged out over a couple of hours and then I improved and cleaned it up over the next couple of days.

I hope you enjoy!


	5. Coby's Confusion I

Coby's ConfusionFebruary 13, 801 WG – July 20, 801 WG

 _Coby and Helmeppo struggle to help reign in the chaos in New World as they try to figure out what the hell is motivating the Straw Hat Grandfleet into attacking all their bases and ships._

I

Coby didn't know what was going on with the world. There was chaos and then there was _chaos!_

The Straw Hat Grandfleet, Luffy-san's followers, had suddenly and inexplicable gone crazy all at once and were attacking Marine bases in New World. Between trying to coordinate reinforcements to the affected areas, tracking down the various pirate crews involved, trying, unsuccessfully, to keep the incidents out of the media, and dealing with the opportunist pirates that were taking advantage of the chaos to pillage and plunder to their hearts' content, Coby and his friend Helmeppo were busier than they had been during their training with Vice-Admiral Garp.

"Someone had to have slipped something into their drinks," concluded Helmeppo, his uniform stained, his shades hanging sideways on his nose and his long blonde hair, the only nice feature on his not-so-cute face, sticking out like he had been involved in another one of Vegapunk's electricity experiments. "Either it was an ill-thought out prank or someone thought if the Grandfleet charged the Navy they would be easily to take down."

"If that's the case, I want to court-martial whoever had that daft plan," replied Coby. His uniform was equally stained, locks of strawberry pink singed, a few strands continued to smolder unnoticed, but his glasses were still miraculously intact. He had them on his nose as he read through the damage reports from the various bases. "They couldn't have done much research on these guys' strengths."

"Why are they doing this all at once, now, anyway?!" wailed Helmeppo, papers going everywhere as he threw up his arms in frustration. "I mean they don't typically sail in the same area, but to suddenly start hitting everything at once…!"

"Their common denominator is they are all sworn to Luffy-san yet he's not leading the charge. He hasn't even been seen or heard from in weeks." Coby bit his lip and worry filled him for his pirate friend. "I wonder if something happened to him."

"Happened to him? Yeah, right!" scoffed Helmeppo. "Things don't happen to Mugiwara, he happens to things."

Coby snorted at his friend's comment, but the smile faded quickly enough. Luffy-san was always the epicenter of chaos these days, his noticeable absence from the current maelstrom of disorder was alarming.

A few days later Coby's secret Den Den Mushi rang, the one that he used to receive reports from his agent Drake X, the former rear-admiral now pirate captain. He answered the device with his half of the code word and Drake X responded. Coby actually remembered to say it this time, he was improving.

"Do you know what's going on with the Straw Hat allies?" asked Coby.

"They're definitely coordinating their attacks," replied Drake X with sigh.

Coby let out a sigh as well. He'd figured as much. Some of the group had worked together to hit harder bases and they weren't doubling up on their attacks. Bases struck once had not reported being attacked again. They had to have been communicating targets, but why?

"I hacked a line when they were teleconferencing this last time," continued undercover Marine. "Some of them remember to encrypt their lines but not all, so the information is spotty. I missed the start of all this, and they aren't rehashing those details, merely going over their findings and their next steps. So, unfortunately, I'm not sure of the trigger but it seems they are looking for Mugiwara."

"Luff – Mugiwara is missing?" Coby always struggled to remember to not refer to his pirate friend by familiar terms when speaking with his fellow Marines that weren't Garp-san or Helmeppo.

"Yes, from what they are discussing. Him and his whole crew are missing. They think we're hiding them somewhere, that's why they're attacking. They're seeking information to his whereabouts."

"But we don't have him! …Do we?" Like the Marine spy would know.

That was all Drake X could offer. He promised to call back if he heard anything else. Coby could only rub his face in frustration when the call ended. Something had happened to Luffy-san. But what? And why did the Grandfleet think they had him?

Coby headed over to the Marine Academy where Garp-san was stationed, training new recruits. The poor souls. It was what they had him doing instead of full on retirement. After all Paramount War, all of the dirty laundry had been aired including Garp-san being Dragon's father and Luffy's grandfather. It would have demoralized the younger Marines if Garp-san had left right after, so he went into partial retirement by becoming an instructor.

Coby related what he learned to the vice-admiral; it concerned his grandson after all. Though he wished he could provide more than speculation.

"No one, neither pirate nor Marine, had seen or heard from the Straw Hats Pirates in weeks. That could happen if they were busy with some adventure that was out of Marine territory," finished Coby, trying to leave it on a hopeful note. He and Garp-san were the very few in the Marines that would care about Luffy-san. While most Marines would cheer the disappearance, they both were upset by it.

Garp-san growled, anger and fear playing across his face. "That could be the case, wouldn't be the first time he vanished to cause trouble somewhere we weren't watching. But what has spurred those people to suddenly search for their leader?"

Coby had no answer to this. Garp-san sighed and began muttering something about putting in a few calls to see what they could dig up. Confused, Coby tried to ask what the vice-admiral was talking about, but Garp-san was already shooing him out the door. One did not ignore the shooing motion of Garp the Fist. If you did, the next motion was a fist to hurry you on your way.

"If he's disappeared then why should we waste resources on figuring out why. Finding out isn't going to stop the fleet from rampaging," said Helmeppo when Coby returned form the Academy.

"If we knew that, then maybe we could tell them and they'd stop attacking," said Coby.

"Yeah, right. They aren't going to believe a bunch of Marines when they tell them we don't have him. They're convinced we're hiding him and until Mugiwara reappears they're going to keep searching for him."

"Then shouldn't we find him so we can say, 'Look! Here he is!' If they know where he is, they'll stop attacking."

"And if we find him? What? Are we just going to hand him over with a mild scolding for worrying his friends? They'll just focus all their attacks on whoever has him. We're stuck, Coby!"

Helmeppo had a point but that led to Coby's next argument. "What if something else took him out? Shouldn't we know what that was to determine if they could do the same to us? If it was Big Mom or Black Beard or one of the other Worst Generation pirates, or any pirate, they'd be crowing about it. What if it's an enemy that took him down so no one would hear about them until they were ready for us?"

"What do you think will happen to us, if go out and investigate, then? We'd disappear too!"

Coby swallowed. Helmeppo was right, but they were Marines. Wasn't it their job to investigate any possible threat to the world?

Things continued their downward spiral with no change in sight.

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?! HOW COULD YOU LET A PIRATE, ESPECIALLY THAT PIRATE, GET THE DROP ON YOU?!"

Coby gritted his teeth as he hurried past the Fleet Admiral's office with yet more reports of destroyed bases.

Vice-Admiral Yasuke had just arrived from another annihilated base. The whispers described it as being an especially swift and humiliating defeat to one of the more notorious buffoons in the Straw Hat Grandfleet. No one spoke of further details but just that was enough to reveal how bad it had been.

"I DON'T WANT TO HEAR YOUR EXCUSES! YOU'RE A VICE-ADMIRAL! ACT LIKE IT! HOW DARE YOU BRING SHAME TO THAT UNIFORM!"

Sakazuki wasn't one to stand for such disrespect toward the Marines. He also tended to punish any that failed to live up to his lofty expectations severely. Coby didn't envy the man one bit, but it seemed like the yelling was taking on a personal note. The young man shook his head and hurried away before he became collateral damage to the Fleet Admiral's fury.

Soon after a report arrived from Varian, the island set up to be Vegapunk's personal lab after the destruction of Punk Hazard years earlier. It was almost lost among the dozens of reports of smoking Marine bases and pillaged ports.

Helmeppo discarded it thinking it was more the same. Coby, dutiful even with drudgery, snatched the report from the pile. All reports had to be read, and important points noted for the weekly incident report that went to the top brass, though it was currently a daily report since so many incidents were happening.

"Coby! We can't read every single one of these things. We'll never get the report done if we actually take the time to read them," whined Helmeppo.

Coby ignored him as he read the report.

 _ILocation: Varian_

 _Facilty: World Government Research Center_

 _Time: March 11, 801 WG_

 _At 21:38 Pirates were discovered to have infiltrated the research facility. Marines engaged along with CP0 Agent Lucci. Pirates were discovered to be Straw Hat Luffy and his crew._

 _At 21:47 Battle ensued in the Cryogenics Laboratory._

 _At 22:08 Surgeon of Death, Trafalgar Law, arrived with his crew and joined the engagement._

 _At 22:21 CP0 Agent Lucci was killed by Trafalgar._

 _At 22:25 The Straw Hat Pirates and Hearts Pirates withdrew along with 247 test subjects from the Cryogenics Laboratory._

 _At 22:27 Battleships dispatched from harbor. Due to a shift change, five ships were available to engage. Three more are in the area and are estimated to arrive in 15 minutes._

 _At 22: 40 Battleships discover the pirate ships, Thousand Sunny and Polar Tang, on the back side of the island, near the cliffs. Drag nets are deployed to counter the Polar Tang's submersion tactics. Battleships proceed to engage._

 _At 22:42 A phenomenon of unknown cause is spotted to occur aboard the Thousand Sunny. Tentatively identified by surviving lookout as originating from Straw Hat Luffy. Phenomenon consists of lighting-like anomalies that appear to lift Thousand Sunny out of the water and begin striking at the battleships. All battle ships receive severe and fatal damage as if struck by the claws of a giant beast._

 _At 22:45 The phenomenon dies down. Thousand Sunny and Polar Tang escape. Unable to pursue._

 _At 22:48 Straw Hat Pirates and Hearts Pirates confirmed escaped./I_

"This one contains information on Luffy-san!" cried Coby. Helmeppo fell out of his chair with a squawk and rushed over to read the report over Coby's shoulder.

"What the heck?! Lightning?!" yelled the blonde as he moved his shades off his face to better see the report. As if the shades had the power to change the words to mean something that was totally ludicrous. "Mugiwara doesn't wield lightning! He's rubber. He's lightning's natural enemy!"

"I know! However, they did identify the ships and Luffy-san's crew is rather distinct," said Coby, not believing what he was reading either.

"And what was he doing attacking Vegapunk's lab in the first place?"

"It reads that he escaped with 247 test subjects," said Coby quietly, feeling sick. Test subjects meant people being used in an experiment. Probably unwilling if they were escaping with pirates.

Helmeppo was quiet for a moment then whispered, "A rescue op?"

"That seems more like his thing. If one of the subjects was someone he knew…"

"Right… No power on heaven and earth could stop him then. But lightning, Coby!"

Coby chewed on his lip. It was so Luffy-san yet not Luffy-san. What was he to believe? He knew too well that reports weren't always the most accurate. If a corrupt official had written it to cover their screw up… He would just have to talk to Vice-Admiral Garp about the matter.

Unfortunately, a gag order descended on the base the next day and Coby couldn't speak with Garp-san about the matter or even tell him Luffy-san had supposedly been spotted attacking Varian.

This also meant the media was blind to the attack. Varian had been too tightly controlled and isolated for any undercover reporter to get near. The World Economy New Paper failed to pick up the story. Without the story in the paper there was no new information to reach the Grandfleet. And, judging by their continued rampage, Luffy-san, for whatever reason, had yet to make contact with his allies.

Was it really Luffy-san at Varian? Why wouldn't he speak with his allies when they were clearly acting out? Unfortunately, the Straw Hat Pirate Captain was once again in the wind. No one saw him after the attack despite lookouts being posted. His trail had gone cold and the Grand Fleet continued to rage.

After hitting every base, save New Marineford, they began to attack ships. New World was quickly losing its military power and the pirates were running wild.

Now there were new orders coming down from above. Marines from the Blues and Paradise were being directed to head to Moady Archipelago. Coby and Helmeppo were not on the call list. It seemed New World Marines were being kept at their posts, what was left of them. Why this call was happening was on a need-to-know bases and if you weren't on call, you didn't need to know.

All these Marines being summoned for unknown reasons and none of them to help quell the chaos in New World. What the hell was so important in Moady right now anyway? Helmeppo was pulling his hair out in frustration while Coby tried to remember what sleeping was like.

The pair found themselves fighting someone nearly every day as they tried to stay on top of their paperwork and orders. They hadn't run into the Grandfleet yet and they dreaded the battle should they ever.

Then they returned to headquarters to find the place covered wall to wall with injured Marines.

"What the hell happened?!" cried Coby, alarmed. Had the Grandfleet finally hit New Marineford?

Garp-san turned at Coby's shout, he wasn't injured and seemed to be assessing the damage as well. His expression was thunderous, but it wasn't aimed at Coby and Helmeppo, just at the situation in general.

"Garp-san! What happened?" Coby repeated, running up to the man.

"Casualties from the war in Moady," said Garp-san with a huff. "They called me over to help defend New Marineford while they treated the injured here. Seems that, for whatever reason, my idiot son was having a giant throwdown over there. He had his whole army with him. All I can get is that the Marines held him off, so they count it as a victory. But what were they holding him off from and why did he want to get it so badly? No one will talk!"

"Eh?! Is that why everyone was being sent to Moady? They knew Dragon was heading there with his army?" asked Helmeppo, incredulous.

Just what the hell was going on? Coby yanked at his hair but all three were left in the dark about the true nature of Moady.

The next few weeks were more of the same. Coby fell into bed and woke hours later still in uniform, not even remembering hitting the pillow and not at all rested. Trying to maintain the immaculate image of the Marines was impossible as he and other Marines struggled to take up the slack left by injured and dead comrades.

The Blues were slowly descending into chaos, thankfully not at the same speed at New World, but it had become clear to the weaklings running around in those seas that the Marines were low on men. Pillaging was up in those places as well and monarchs were getting angry. More paperwork.

Coby was starting to understand how Garp-san could just fall asleep standing up. How many times had that been the only time the old man could sleep when he was rising up the ranks?

Then, one day, the Fleet Admiral stormed out of his office, oozing lava, in his fury and headed straight for the lifts. Men and women dove out of his way les they get melted out of the way. The man failed to close the door before he thundered down the hall, and Coby caught wind of a conversation being held over the Den Den Mushi in the office.

 _I"…White Beard execution was secretly done to deliberately create chaos in an effort to thwart Dragon, that didn't work either. It wasn't a bad idea; people do tend to cling to whatever represents security in times of chaos rather than embrace change. So in theory, taking out a major stabilizer of the sea should have made it harder for Dragon…"/I_

It was tempting to keep listening. Whoever this was that was speaking had a really interesting perspective on Paramount War it seemed. But this was Akainu's private line and his office. Coby shut the door before he could be accused of eavesdropping on an above-clearance conversation.

The next day the World Economy News Paper recited an incident in Alabasta. Admiral Fujitora had been involved with that debacle. The most alarming thing about the story was that someone had found Pluton and had been sending it against Alabasta. No mention of the culprit. Whoever it had been guilty of moving the great behemoth had been lost when this ship was destroyed along with hundreds of brave Marines that had been battling the invulnerable ship.

The whole thing was just this side of believable if one wasn't aware of Marine duplicity and their tendency to falsify news reports so they shine in their favor. Coby was jaded enough after nearly three years in the service to recognize fake news when he read it. However, there were no clues to piece together what actually happened. No new wanted posters or articles corresponding with the event. The only clue was that it all happened on the same day Sakzuki had stormed out of his office in a rush to get to Mary Geoise.

What had sent up there in such a hurry remained a mystery, but the Fleet Admiral had returned cowed and had been in an especially foul mood ever sense.

That mysterious speaker had to have something to do with this. Coby wished there had been a way for him to eavesdrop that wouldn't have gotten him in trouble. Sigh.


	6. Coby's Confusion II

II

Another gag order seemed to be in effect surrounding Alabasta. No one was talking beyond the details of the paper. However, seeking out ones that did know something was impossible. The seas were still in chaos and Coby and Helmoppo were still without enough hours in the day to deal with it all.

Sometimes it didn't pay to be the best at what you did. The pair continued to fight rogue pirates. At least Big Mom and Shanks were minding their manners. Black Beard, however, was throwing himself into the chaos, adding to their issues.

Fugitora arrived over a month later to help with reigning in the wild pirates, his assignment in Paradise concluded. Oddly, the Grandfleet suddenly stopped raiding the Marines around then. It was soon apparent why when the admiral spoke to Coby.

"The Barto Club hit my ship. Despite pinning him down with my gravity, Bartolomeo kept demanding to know where we were keeping Mugiwara."

"I'd heard that they were looking for him," said Coby. "But I heard Luff – Mugiwara raided Varian over three months ago."

"He must not have been talking to them for some reason," replied Fugitora.

"What did you do with them?"

"I told them Mugiwara was involved in the incident over in Alabasta and that he should be returning soon to New World."

"Eh?! He was?!" Coby had known the story was fake but for Luffy-san to be involved in Alabasta again…! "Just what has he been doing this whole time?"

Fujitora chuckled. "I suspect the Straw Hat Grandfleet quieted down because they were able to make contact with him after that. I don't know why they weren't before but that's probably what's happening now."

Coby looked around to make sure no one could eavesdrop then whispered, "Did let the Barto Club go so they would make the others stop?"

"No, the Happo Navy arrived, and Bartolomeo escaped while I was dealing with them. The Happo Navy withdrew fairly quickly so I couldn't capture them."

Coby sighed. "They didn't listen with Commander Yoseph told them about the attack on Varian. Why did they believe you?"

Fujitora shrugged. "Maybe because I'm an admiral who would know one way or the other. Or maybe they still couldn't reach him after Varian for whatever reason."

"Maybe it was because it involved Alabasta. Luff – Mugiwara does have a history with that country," speculated Coby. Not that it was important anymore.

"Well time to bring the rest of these rogues in line," said the admiral. "With any luck I might get a chance to secure Black Beard."

Things began to quiet down without the Straw Hat Grandfleet to lead the charge, and the Marines rounded up the remaining rogue pirates that didn't have the sense to go to ground once the source of chaos disappeared. Black Beard bailed as soon as his coward sense realized the Grandfleet was done.

Coby's secret Den Den Mushi began to ring again. Clearing the code ritual, Drake X launched into his report.

By luck, he had been close enough to hack a very important call between the members of the Grandfleet. They were heading to Dressrosa. Why was unknown, the call had been only partially intercepted.

It was a prime opportunity to nab the troublemaking fleet as they arrived, but the Marines had taken too much damage over the past few months and their personal was spread too thin to risk a confrontation. So, Coby volunteered for a reconnaissance mission.

"I'll go and see what I can learn about their next move," said Coby with a salute to Admiral Ryokugyu.

"It's good of you to volunteer for this," replied the admiral, "but it won't do King Riku and Dressrosa a lick of good if the fleet is planning to strike."

"I don't think that will be the case, sir," replied Coby. "That's the place where they first swore allegiance to Mugiwara. They also fought in defense of the nation. I think they are just meeting there. It's probably just a staging area before they make their next move."

"That last part is an excellent point. It probably is just a staging area. It will he harder to intercept messages if they can talk face to face. So by all means, go and see if you can figure out what they're planning. We need to be ready, whatever it is."

The admiral reached behind his desk and produced several items. One looked like a cone with a rod in the middle attached to an electronic box. Another was an eavesdropping Den Den Mushi that was connected to another device with two reels and dark tape going between them. A third device was attached to another Den Den Mushi and looked even more complicated. New technology it looked like.

"These things are the latest gadgets Vegapunk had produced. The cone is a listening device that can allow you to hear conversations a great distance away. The other is a recording device and will record whatever the eavesdropper picks up with such detail that this device, the decryptor, can take the time later to decrypt it and read it back to you later. This way, we can still figure out even the encrypted calls, though it will take some time depending on the encryption. They are experimental, however, but Vegapunk would love to read the report if you're able to use them."

Coby set himself up on the ridge that guarded the island from the sea and its invaders. Pirates tended to anchor offshore since they weren't supposed to be near Dressrosa. In fact, he was closest to the side where Green Bit lay. If they were going to gather anywhere, the secluded neighbor was an excellent gather point.

While he watched from his hide-away, he saw the pirates arrive over a course of several days but do nothing more. He set up his listening device, trying to capture conversations from onboard. However, only fragments came through. The range of the thing must have been greatly reduced when trying to listen over a noisy sea. Occasionally they came ashore for supplies but kept the trouble to a minimum. They didn't do much more than shoot the breeze when they did talk and nothing was said of why they were there. The listening device had no trouble picking up their conversations, though they were in town and he was still up on the ridge.

It appeared they were waiting, but for what? For Luffy-san? Why?

Coby kept meticulous notes of his observations, hoping that going over them later would reveal something.

Then his eavesdropping Den Den Mushi buzzed with an intercepted call, but it became garbled almost immediately. Someone was encrypting the line this time. He hit record; he would have to run the recording through decryptor to figure out what was being said. Still it would probably be too late to act on it one it was translated.

The fleet then moved off as one, heading somewhere else, but together. That was concerning. They had waited here without anyone appearing or anything happening and now they were leaving. That encrypted call must explain why.

It took hours for the decryptor to finally make the recorded call understandable. It had been a good encryption. When he finally was able to listen to it. He was stunned by what he heard.

It was Luffy-san, explaining why he couldn't meet with them as they originally planned.

Coby was shocked to learn of the destruction of Fishman Island, but it sounded like the people were safe. They were now heading to a place called Amador that Orlumbus had found years ago. An island that lay on the border between the Calm Belt and the Grandline.

That was why the fleet had left. They were meeting up with Luffy-san to help show him the way as well as to learn why he had been missing. He had the heading where they would all meet up, but they would probably be gone before anyone could mobilize a large enough force to deal with the entire Straw Hat Grandfleet. If they could muster one at all.

Coby returned to headquarters with this information. There were lots of things that the Marines needed to know in that little message. He called ahead to let them know what he had and was informed he was to meet with the entire command upon arrival.

When Coby arrived, he was immediately intimidated. The Fleet Admiral, Sakazuki, was there, no surprise, but so were all three admirals, Fujitora, Kizaru, and Ryokugyu; Fujitora was at the opposite end of the room from Sakazuki. Vice Admiral Garp, a female vice-admiral with short blonde hair and dazzling blue eyes he had never seen before, Base Commander Smoker, Captain Tashigi, Helmeppo, Vice-Admiral Tsuru, and former Fleet Admiral – now Marine Inspector Sengoku. Then the biggest surprise of all, Commander-in-Chief Kong who sat at Sakazuki's desk.

Coby suddenly felt like the awkward cadet he had been two years ago instead of the Captain he was now. Kong looked at him and Coby realized he was very much in charge of this meeting, not an observer. Kong was intimidating all on his own, but he gave Coby a reassuring nod. He understood how unsettling all this must be to the young man.

With a deep breath Coby launched into his report of what he had observed of the fleet and what he had learned, even playing back the unencrypted message from the recording.

"We need to discover where this Amador is immediately," declared the Fleet Admiral. "We must get there before Mugiwara so we can capture or kill him once and for all." Akainu was in sour mood these days and his temper was hair-trigger. Coby was kind of glad now he wasn't alone with the man. He was certain he would be melted if he couldn't give the man the answers he wanted.

"That is foolish," stated the unknown female vice-admiral. Sakazuki glared at her but she didn't flinch from him. Instead she met his gaze with equal intensity. "The entire fleet will be with him. A fleet that just spent the last four months handing us our asses all over New World due to a communication failure between them and their commodore. You really think we have the resources to send after them when we are still recovery from our war with Dragon's Revolutionary Army and the four-month ass beating we just suffered? Besides they have the entire population of Fishman Island with them. You can't go all out with the entire race of Fishman and Mermaids sitting right there."

"Remember your rank, Vice-Admiral Desiree," snapped Sakazuki.

"Stand down, Akainu!" snapped Kong. "She's one hundred percent correct. We can't muster the forces necessary to take on the united Grandfleet along with Mugiwara. You also know that the standing orders are to leave Mugiwara be as long as that man is with them."

The Fleet Admiral looked like he was about to pop a blood vessel and he suddenly found himself with a five-foot radius of empty space around him. No one really seemed to move, it just seemed to materialize around him. Coby grimaced then realized what the Commander-in-Chief had said.

"Standing orders?"

Kong flicked his finger up at the ceiling without moving the rest of his hand. Coby grimaced. Orders from the Gorosei. That was a big deal. But why? He remembered the voice of the man the day Sakazuki had rushed to Mary Geoise. Was that the man? Who was he? And who had he been talking to when the Fleet Admiral had run out of his office?

Vice-Admiral Tsuru shared his confusion but chose to voice it aloud. "Who is this man they are concern with?"

"Raiju."

The younger members, which included Smoker and Ryokugyu, looked confused. The rest blanched while Sakazuki just turned redder. Fujitora was indifferent.

"Raiju?! He's resurfaced?! Is he going to join Dragon now?! We can't allow that! Our defeat will be guaranteed if they join forces!" cried Sengoku.

"He's not going to join Dragon. He hates Helgram too much to ever work with the man again," said Fujitora, waving his hands to calm the former Fleet Admiral down. "However, he refused to return to the Marines despite the Gorosei extending him the offer. He doesn't trust them to do the right thing. He did, however, offer to aid us in tracking down the escaped villains of Impel Down that we have refused to acknowledge to the world. He thinks it would be in everyone's best interest if they were taken down sooner rather than later. He will use whatever resources he had at his disposal to accomplish that goal. Whether it is us or Mugiwara."

"That explains the orders then," said Tsuru. When the still confused younger members looked at her, she continued. "Raiju is – was – one of the most brilliant military strategists in history. He was so good at being able to maximize resources that he could take a single patrol and wipe out an entire fleet. When he was involved victory was always ours and with minimum casualties."

Fujitora nodded. "He took down seven of our battleships with Mugiwara's one ship in less than ten minutes."

"He hasn't lost his touch then," muttered Garp-san. "The brat."

Coby swallowed. He could do that with just one ship? Add the entire Grandfleet to his planning…

"We are definitely not fighting the Grandfleet under these conditions," said Vice-Admiral Desiree with a shake of her head.

"Besides we won't learn where Amador is until after King Neptune arrives there and sends an envoy to report the successful migration of his people. Mugiwara will most likely be long gone by the time we receive that message," stated Kong. "I can confirm the young captain's report on the Fishman migration. We received a message from King Neptune mere hours before Captain Coby reported in stating that the populace of Fishman Island were migrating, effective immediately, and would inform us of their new home once they discovered it. They didn't explain why the sudden rush but now I know it is because their island was destroyed. They already have permission to migrate so there was no issue with it."

"They are migrating in the presence of notorious pirates," said Sakzuki. "How can we not have an issue?"

"We have orders to leave Raiju be and he is currently traveling with them. King Neptune is still a member of World Government. We are not interfering with their migration. We have many reasons not to. You'll just have to wait to acquire Mugiwara's head another time.

"Besides we don't have the resources to escort them to safety. If Mugiwara is escorting them then that's one less thing for us to worry about. Honestly, this is not the time to kick hornet's nest. We need time to recover."

Sakazuki growled but conceded the point. The conversation seemed over, and Coby was about to take his leave when the blonde vice-admiral spoke up.

"Oh, I just remembered," said Vice-Admiral Desiree as she pulled a letter from her pocket. "I was supposed to give this to you, Garp-dono."

Garp-san took it as he asked, "What is it?"

"It's a message from your wife concerning your grandson."

Everyone, save Kong, Tsuru and Sengoku, stared at the two vice-admirals.

"Wife?" squeaked Helmeppo and Coby. No one said anything about the outburst.

"Oh now I have to hear this," said Kong, sounding amused. "I wonder what she has to say about your pirate grandson. I've always wondered how she felt about that development."

Vice-Admiral Desiree shrugged then started reciting the letter. How she knew the content was anyone's guess. Perhaps it had been dictated from a call instead of being sent by ship. A rather swift arrival.

"Garp, my beloved, it is all fine and good for out grandson to have his own fleet, but he needs to stay in control of its actions, as much as pirately possible, no matter how under the weather he is feeling at the time. This involves COMMUNICATING directly, or through a representative, so they don't act out without orders. He needs to take responsibility for the current state of New World. Relay this to him or I will personally march over to his ship to pinch his ear.

"Your devoted darling and eternal love, Griselda.

"PS. Akainu, your son's even more of a fool than you and he deserved it."

Sakzuki went red in the face and appeared on the verge of shouting, but Kong spoke before he could start. "Your wife is as opinionated as always, I see. And well informed, too. Tell me, does she still complain about Dragon never calling home?"

"Yes," groaned Garp-san while shaking his head. Sengoku clapped a hand over his mouth and Tsuru sighed, though a ghost of smile tugged at her lips.

Coby was even more confused than ever. Was the woman senile or something? So many questions and this was so not the time to ask any of them. Best to wait until he and Garp-san were alone to ask them. Maybe Garp-san wouldn't mind answering. Maybe.

8888888888888888888888888888888

Here it is the answer to "A Fool's Faith". I said I probably needed to do one from Coby's perspective.

Because the Marines are in the know and would need to respond to activities in "A Matter of Trust" and "Pluton" as well as "A Fool's Faith", this wound up being longer than the last entry, by twice as much. So that's why it's in two parts.

Like "A Fool's Faith" this all takes place in the background of "A Matter of Trust", "Pluton" and "Shard of the Moon" (unwritten).

And everyone please welcome guest star Vice-Admiral Desiree who is visiting us from the Fire Prince series. She will remain as the Vice-Admiral for G5, having replaced Virgo. She does have the same position post time-skip in the Fire Prince series which is why I have her here now. I do reuse my characters. That's why Maryanne, Helgram, and Doc Holiday appear in all three series but with slightly different levels of importance. Just like some of the events and histories are also shared. So don't take it as a sign that the series are linked, because they aren't.


	7. Return to Water Seven I

May 18 – June 18, 801 WG

By the time the Thousand Sunny rolled into Water Seven, everyone was about ready to murder one another. The Thousand Sunny may have held more room than the Polar Tang, or at least the illusion of it given it was an open deck design, but with two full crews onboard everyone was stepping on one another. All fine for parties but after a month even the party hard Straw Hats were at the breaking point.

The only reason everyone was holding out were the girls. No one wanted to behave badly in front of their pint-sized passengers. Or more accurately, everyone was holding out because of Lami.

Law's little sister was old enough to understand the stress everyone was under, and being the daughter of doctors, she was really good at finding ways to relieve their stress if only for a few minutes. A few sweet smiles, a couple of cheerful words and an offered snack lightened the recipient's mood for a time. You couldn't be grouchy with such an innocent sweetheart.

Ann, at the age of three, was still in the midst of early childhood selfishness and was, by contrast, not capable of relieving anyone's stress. On the contrary, she added to it. Despite everyone's best efforts, small children were sensitive to the moods of adults. Everyone being stressed and secretly grouchy made Ann openly grouchy.

It didn't take much to set her off. You refuse to do something she wanted, you do what she wanted but not quite the way she wanted. She'd ask for something then decide upon receiving it, it wasn't actually what she wanted and demand something else. Etc.

Ann's meltdowns were spectacular and, in some incidences, involved quite a bit of violence. Lami tried to appease the little girl only to wind up breaking down herself. Three-year-olds were amazingly stubborn about their foul moods and Lami did not possess an ounce of big-sister experience to know how to cope with the frustration of trying to appease the unappeasable.

Luffy was completely out of his element. At first, he tried to be comforting and, if he had still been rubber, he might have been able to hold out. After all, the ear screaming could only hurt for so long before you went mercifully deaf.

Unfortunately, he was not rubber anymore and Ann was a violent toddler. Law suspected Ace had been too, but there was no one present who could confirm that theory.

Luffy was a real trooper, though. He tried to hold her despite the volatile tot giving him two black eyes, a busted nose, a split lip, several bruises to his stomach, a bitten ear and even a well-placed kick to the groin that leveled him for several minutes. Despite all his attempts to calm her down, he had no more luck than Lami in bringing an end to her fit.

Lance had tried to help his godson, but Ann was having none of it. Becoming even more hazardous and somehow louder when Lance tried to placate her. Instead she moved her tantrum over to her worn down uncle, who found not even the bow of the ship could act as a refuge from his determined-to-make-everyone-miserable niece. Neither treats nor toys would bring an end to it.

Law was too busy reassuring his distraught sister to help and glared daggers at his little brother as the young man continued in vain to try to calm the girl.

Lance was at a loss about how a child could be so gleeful about being miserable. It said something about Ann's tenacity for hellraising when the one member in the group with abundant hands-on parenting experience was flummoxed.

Some wondered if she wasn't instead taking joy in their misery and suggested a smack would shut her up. Talk like that was shut down by an infuriated Straw Hat captain who at last found a target to focus his pent-up frustrations with Ann on. Poor soul.

The tantrums ended only when she wore herself out and collapsed on the deck into sound sleep. This took a full thirty minutes to achieve and, considering her late father's stamina for fighting, they considered themselves lucky.

After the seventh meltdown Luffy finally lost his temper, deciding that his grandfather might have been on to something with his "fist of love". Nami, however, wasn't about to let him punch a helpless toddler. Even if she was driving everyone batty.

This resulted in Luffy and Nami having the biggest row Law had ever witnessed. And he had witnessed some spectacular rows between couples, particular couples that were in the middle of divorce proceedings.

The cook, the eternal lady's man, tried to intervene on Nami's behalf, only to be sent a mile out to sea and having to be rescued by Usopp who rushed over aboard the Little Merry. Who had sent Sanji flying was unclear as Nami and Luffy continued their verbal throw down with only the briefest of pauses and neither acknowledged their comrade's intrusion into the battle.

Meanwhile, Ann continued to shriek.

Lance, expressionless, walked over, picked up Ann with one hand and headed to the back of the ship where the women slept. He dropped the pint-sized terror onto her over fluffy bed and walked out, closing the door behind him. His final action was to sit down in front of the door and declare, "You'll leave when you're done."

Pounding fists and muffled howling was all that answered, but he didn't budge. He then eyed Luffy and Nami, who were still going at it, shook his head, pulled out a pair of cotton balls and stuffed them into his ears.

Law didn't blame the man. Domestic disputes were notoriously the most dangerous to intervene in. This one was no exception considering the fate of the Straw Hat's cook. He, himself, was staying out of the squabble that seemed to have forgotten its purpose in the spirit of howling. At least, Nami wasn't shooting lightning at her captain and Luffy wasn't throwing fists. They still had some semblance of self-control.

Chopper hid in his office, distressed but not wanting to join Sanji at sea when the reindeer couldn't swim. Sachi, the ginger haired man with the orca hat and the only other medically trained professional aside from Ikkaku and Law, joined him.

Carrot, Bepo, the white bear mink, and Zoro retreated to the crow's nest for the peace. Po, the panda zoan fruit eater, and Barceloni, a man with a tall black top hat and dark complexion, called a truce in their endless rivalry over ownership of the kitchen and withdrew to collaborate on a dish for all thirty-five occupants of the Thousand Sunny. If they successfully made a dish together Law would have to mark the occasion in his log. He hoped the kitchen survived.

Robin decided this was the perfect time to start a book club, Moto, a pudgy blonde man, Ikkaku, a woman wearing a yellow and orange beany, and Jean Bart, the largest of his crew, joined her. Moto, being the fan of all things romance and poetry since he couldn't charm a lady to save his life, was not shocking. His tough as nails nurse and spymistress, Ikkaku and the one-time captain and slave, Jean Bart, was a different story. Maybe it was the lure of the earmuffs Robin was offering for the occasion?

Shiroe, his glasses wearing tactics chief, and Pinch, his bald bookkeeper, vanished somewhere inside muttering about budgets and plans. How many times did moneygrubbing Pinch need go over their budget when they literally had nothing to spend their rewards on until they reached Water Seven? Shiroe, Law's resident over organizer and planner of all things not hair-brained, was probably going over his plans again for the specifications of a new submarine. He wasn't a designer, but he could draw up what they needed by thinking about future engagements and then throw the whole thing at Uni to work out with Clione and Honda.

Speaking of Uni. The shipwright, who was forever wearing a striped mask over his lower face, had vanished into the depth of the ship with Franky to tinker. Clione, who wore a semi-pointy purple hood over his dirty blonde hair, was not far behind. Usopp returned to the below deck shop after recovering the waterlogged Sanji. The cook looked like he was ready for round two with trying to interfere with the pair, but an extra set of hands materialized on his back and knocked him out before he could be sent flying again.

Meanwhile, Honda, the hotshot helmsman with mile-long black bangs held up by an unknown amount of hair gel, had made off with the shark-submarine with Rugby, a man with the green cap, and Jojo, possessor of spiky brown hair, in tow. Probably the wisest course of action, given the two meatheads were usually the first to start shit.

Speaking of starting shit, Iago, in his black bowler cap, leaned against the railing with Penelope, who wore a yellow cap over brown chest-length pigtails, and Penguin, with his distinctive hat bearing his name, eating tangerines. Law grimaced. Those were Nami's tangerines fresh from her tree. This would not end well once the navigator noticed.

Ghost, who was forever wearing a Noh mask, was near the bow running through a reenactment of his favorite Noh play. Somehow he managed to act out every part despite being the only actor. Barnaby, who had pointy ears and brown hair styled in the shape of a heart, sat on the stairs below casting grim disapproval on Luffy and Nami as they continued to shout. He then cast a meaningful look at his captain. What that meaning was Law didn't know. Or more accurately, he stubbornly refused to translate. That business was strictly between captain and navigator and, as long as they didn't actually try to kill each other, it was probably best to just let them blow steam.

Brook had decided music was the answer to everything and kept playing no matter how much everyone ignored him. Jinbei stayed at the helm, while groaning over the whole spectacle. Conical, possessing a stoic nature and long black hair that ended in a heart shape pointed straight up, stood next to him making notes in his observation book. Conical treated the whole world like it was one big observation platform to study the local wildlife called humans. There were times that Law thought the man was a visitor from outer space.

Law hung out near the other former warlord, as the stern seemed to be the most peaceful with the mature Jinbei dutifully attending the helm, Conical's pen scratching and Robin's book club the only activity located there. The bow was Luffy's territory and he really seemed like he needed his space. The fight had come to an end with his brother storming over to the lion figure head and throwing himself onto his preferred seat. A glare at the rest of ship dared anyone to come over and disturb him. Ghost made a dramatic leap that may or may not have been in the play and landed on the main part of the deck before continuing with his over the top reenactment. Barnaby scooched down a few more levels on the stairs.

Nami still looked ready for mortal combat with the way she was clutching her staff but refrained from blasting her captain with lightning. Instead she went to tend to her precious tangerine trees.

Which anticipated proverbial flying shit struck the fan, starting a whole new round of battles when she discovered her trees had been pilfered of their precious fruits. She immediately went after all Hearts Pirates not currently away or hiding. Her crewmates knew better than to touch her trees without permission.

Law, of course, couldn't allow anyone to attack his crew even if it was justified. He had realized with one glance the first time he was on the Thousand Sunny that the trees were not to be messed with. The presence of the tangerines on a ship that contained the veracious Straw Hat Luffy was proof enough the fruits were off limits. And that that limit was enforced with great violence.

This got the self-proclaimed lady's man, unfortunately recovered, to come after the Surgeon of Death to defend the honor of fair navigator. Whom didn't need defending. Her lightning was a pain in the ass to deal with. The outraged cook's kicks on the other hand were much easier to negotiate. So Sanji was actually getting in the way of Nami's Hearts Pirates' bashing.

Zoro came down only because the evolving brawl looked like fun. It was also another chance for him to go toe-to-toe with the perverted cook, his preferred target when no enemies were about. Jinbei seemed to be of half a mind to jump overboard but was too dutiful to abandon his post. Robin's book club went on unperturbed. The earmuffs probably had something to do with that. Conical continued recording his observations. Seriously? How does the man write without sparing a second to look at the page?

Lami had retreated to Lance's side since he had gone full vice-admiral with his aura, and everyone was instinctively giving him five feet of space despite the rising chaos. Carrot and Bepo swooped down to join a minute after Zoro for reasons unknown. Minks were a warrior race, maybe that had something to do with it.

Luffy displayed what was rapidly being recognized as postmortem restraint by doing no more than watching the entire war with both confusion and dismay. Or maybe that restraint had something to do with Lance's death glare that was currently leveled on him. Evidence suggested the later since Luffy chose to duck and cover as if his grandfather had just boarded.

The guys that shanghaied the mini sub swung by just long enough to realize now was not the time to return and went back out again. Chopper actually exited his office and went big foot mode, the form he turns into when he's trying to look human and failing, and started trying to separate combatants.

"Knock it off! Friends should not be trying to kill each other!" the reindeer roared as bodies flew in all directions but over the railing. This proclamation ignored the fact that if homicide was the intention, there would be a hell of a lot more blood. It also ignored the fact that the good doctor was doing twice as much damage to the combatants as they were doing to each other.

It wasn't until one spectacularly explosive strike, from whom no one knew, that rocked the ship, sent smoke into the air and nearly threw Luffy from his perch on the figurehead, that it all came to an end. Franky emerged from the interior in his General Franky armor, temper boiling.

"How dare you scumbags damage Sunny with your stupid fighting?! That's super not cool!" he shouted as he swung large mechanical arms that did knock people off the ship. This resulted in several minutes of everyone dodging while trying to rescue crew that may or may not have been able to swim.

Everyone split up after that, bruised, dripping wet and in sore need of a shower, and peace was restored… for the moment.

And what a short moment it was.

When Ann was let out of her room, it revealed the little girl had spent her wrath on her helpless belongings. Her pillows were defeathered and the down was all over the room, the blanket was in shreds, the books were torn apart, her clothes were unwearable and even Baby Bepo, her stuffed bear, had its head torn off. Bepo, the mink, fainted at the sight, Penelope had to be comforted as she dissolved into uncontrollable weeping and Law looked like he was barely containing the urge to cut something. Robin was scandalized when she saw the state of Mother Goose. Lance face palmed at the sight.

Ann looked at her uncle, held up two piece of the cover Snow White and said in the most pompous tone a three-year-old could muster, "Ji-kun, everything's broke, fix it!"

Luffy was dragged away before he did something regrettable in response.

Carrot took the bear as an act of mercy to both the stuffed bear and her fellow mink, also out of respect to Law and his crew that had provided it, and went off to fix it.

In regard to everything else in the room including the bits of book she was holding, Robin just managed to remain calm while replying, "That is not possible, Ann. There is no way to fix something that's that broken, and we are still weeks away from any island where we can buy replacements."

In typical three-year-old fashion where logic is an even more foreign concept than it was to Luffy, Ann shook the covers, stomped her foot, puffed her cheeks and shouted, "FIX IT, NOW!"

"We can't!" stated Robin and breezed past the outraged child to collect every scrap of the destroyed books. She then left the room to give them a full funeral at sea, even asking Brook to play the unfortunate victims of the toddler's wrath a eulogy. Brook obliged.

"NO! FIX IT!" Ann howled but Robin finished her grim task of laying Snow White, Cinderella and the rest of the fairy tale collection to rest.

Sanji and Usopp had the demoralizing task of cleaning out the rest of the carnage, revealing that Ann had located her spare sheets, the women's sheets, their pillows and their clothes and destroyed them as well.

"What the hell?!" gasped Usopp as he brought forth another armful of torn rags that had once been a fine dress. "What are the girls supposed to wear until we get to port?"

"What we're wearing currently," stated Nami with a resigned sigh.

"No way! You guys give us your sheets and some outfits! I don't care if I have to wash them first!" yelled Ikakku. "That will still be a million times better than wearing the same outfit every day and at night."

She turned to glare at her captain. "Give me your Corazon coat!"

"Why would I give you my coat?" responded Law clutching his coat in case she tried to strip it from his shoulders.

"I need it for nightwear. I'm not sleeping nude!"

Sanji bled all over his bundle of wreckage at Ikakku's statement of nude sleeping.

Usopp looked Ikkaku up and down and said, "You wear something other than a jumpsuit?" Ikkaku drew her nun-chucks and tore after the Straw Hat's sniper who somehow led her on a merry chase around the crowded Sunny.

"I'm suddenly glad I keep my books in my study and not in my sleeping chambers," said Robin.

"Eh?!" Nami blanched and ran into the room. Sure enough, the destruction had not spared anything of hers. She had to be restrained, her staff taken away, when she saw what had become of her charts and quills.

Lami stared at the ruin of what she was supposed to be using as sleeping quarters and said in the blandest tone Law had ever her speak, "Isn't this the time where bad kids find themselves lying across a knee?"

Ann was still huffing and puffing over all her things being thrown out and was oblivious to how everyone stared at her at Lami's question.

"I don't advocate violence on children as a means to control them, however, I have never seen a child be so methodical and excessive with their destruction," said Lance as he pulled off his gloves and began rolling up his sleeves. "Time for an exception."

It was an awkward afternoon and dinner following that.

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Inevitably the cycle repeated itself every few days, sans destruction by pint sized terror. Nami's tangerine trees were once again the epicenter of all conflicts. They escaped without losing so much as a leaf in the resulting brawls, the fruit however would not recover until after the crews separated.

You would think the tangerine issue would have resolved itself after the first time, but no, it remained part of the cycle, spurring the brawl into existence each and every time.

Meanwhile, Robin's book club became fluent in sign language and experts at charades as they had to continue to conduct their meetings in earmuffs.

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I ended up having to look up the Hearts Pirates and learning that most of them are unnamed and a few are unidentified. The group shot where all twenty of them pose when meeting Luffy in the anime is the only one that has everyone and several aren't considered cannon because that group shot apparently doesn't happen in the manga.

Well I took the anime group shot, matched up everyone that had a name, then went and made new names for the rest and gave them all a profile and occupation on the ship. So the little quick identifiers when the names pop up the first time is to help pick them up out of the anime group shot.

I may have also resolved an issue I was going to have later on. Which means there is another story to explain that somewhere down the road.


	8. Return to Water Seven II

So when they at last rolled into the backside of Water Seven to dock, even the Thousand Sunny looked relieved. Various members of both crews threw themselves off the ship to lie spread eagle on the dirt beyond. Grateful for the room to stretch.

Iceburg wondered over a couple hours later, after hearing of their arrival. He and Paulie were a bit shocked to see the crews lying in the mud as if they had all been hit with knockout gas. Franky, Usopp and Uni hammered away on the Thousand Sunny that was in sore need of more than a fresh paint job. Honda and Clione were giving the shark sub some maintenance since Honda ran it ragged while trying to stay out from underfoot. Conical stood on the deck taking his notes.

Lance was standing guard and enjoying the quiet. He hadn't seen a threat in Iceburg and probably recalled him from the newspapers. Either way, he hadn't challenged the man when he appeared.

"What happened here?" asked Iceburg as he and Paulie gingerly stepped between the prone figures. They were far enough apart that it only took a little zigzagging to avoid outstretched limbs and bodies.

"Iceburg, super nice to see you," said Franky as he turned away from his work. "Tra-o lost his ship while we were fighting Pluton at Alabasta. He needs a new one. It's super not cool to travel with two full crews on one ship." He pointed at the prone man in the purple shirt with a matching feather collar that had found one of the only spots on the land that was grassy instead of muddy. Lami was flopped across his torso and the siblings were snoozing away. Luffy was next to him, or at least his head was, his legs were spread in the opposite direction. While Ann had copied Lami.

Iceburg blanched at the mention of the ancient weapon.

"Pluton. You were fighting against Pluton, huh," said the much-loved mayor of Water Seven. "I read the report in the newspaper, but it had seemed off to me. Because of what happened to us two years ago, there's no way I could believe a story of the World Government destroying the weapon they craved owning. I can't see them destroying it to save a nation, especially one that has been out of favor since Reverie."

"They certainly don't have any qualms about destroying nations or killing innocents, even if they weren't out of favor," said Uni without turning from his work. "They've done it often enough already."

"… I think I need to hear the whole story, if you don't mind," said Iceburg.

"You don't believe us, do you?" said Honda. He and Clione pausing in their work to glare at Iceburg. They didn't know the man so didn't know it was mere curiosity and not doubt that fueled his statement.

"He super doesn't mean it that way," said Franky, raising a hammer at the pair.

"I've known Franky since we were both Tom's apprentices," said Iceburg waving a placating hand to the Hearts Pirates. "I know he wouldn't lie to me. He's too straightforward a person for that."

Franky grinned and the two pirates settled down at Iceburg's explanation.

"Being that you helped settle Pluton, I have no qualms about using all my connections to help find a new ship for the Hearts Pirates. Considering Pluton was our responsibility, knowing it's gone from the world is a relief. I owe you both for taking care of that and saving a nation from becoming its victim."

"Super fantastic idea, Iceburg, but I think Tra-o will probably want a brand new one. His old one was a submarine, after all," said Franky.

"Ah, I see," replied Iceburg. "Submarines are still too new, despite the recent surge in popularity among pirates, to find them second hand. This will be an interesting challenge."

"You never got commissioned to build one for the Marines despite all the super battleships you produce for them?"

Iceburg shook his head. "The Marines have submarines of their own?"

"It's why our ship took the beating it did," replied Uni, still tending to his repairs. "Ordinarily we would have the advantage by being safely underwater, but there were seventeen combat submarines escorting Pluton along with fifteen battleships. Only reason Thousand Sunny here didn't suffer the same fate was due to the whale and that man over there guiding their actions." The Hearts Pirates shipwright jerked a thumb at Lance who grinned as he gave them a friendly wave of acknowledgement.

It was still hard for Franky to believe the friendly man from a fur town on a backwater fall island in New World was once a vice-admiral of such renown that he was able to talk the Gorosei, never mind actually get them to talk to him in the first place, out of destroying Alabasta after he played a vital role in destroying Pluton. The fact that he was even allowed to walk free was the third star of miracle-level awesomeness for, by all appearance upon first meeting, an easy-going family man.

Did he mention that Lance was also one-time best friends with Dragon and Luffy's godfather?

Suited up in his light armor with his claymore tied to his back, he looked more the part of former vice-admiral than his usual attire did. Still that revelation had been about as shocking as learning that Garp the Fist, Hero of the Marines, was Luffy's grandfather. Then there was Baroness Goldenrei for a grandmother, Revolutionary Leader father, the Second Division Commander of White Beard big brother, the Chief of Staff of the Revolutionary Army other big brother...

Okay, anyone who claimed a familial connection to Luffy was going to be a super big deal with a super lax day-to-day attitude, with maybe the exception of Dragon. The real shock lay with Lance having a familial bond to Luffy. How many more big-time family members, whether by blood or by bond, had still to reveal themselves? Franky hoped that was it.

"It's not something that I can do entirely for free," continued Iceburg, looking troubled. "I have a business to run. I can offer discounts, though."

"He has funds. Alabasta was super rather generous," replied Franky.

"I imagine so," said Iceburg. "I cannot begin to consider what kind of reward I would think worthy of protecting Water Seven from Pluton. I hope this kingdom hasn't been beggared by their gratitude. I'll do everything I can to get the most from every beri."

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Once Law regained consciousness, he was indeed more interested in building a new ship than in buying one. Uni and Law both designed the Polar Tang and they were very interested in being involved in whatever new ship Iceburg was thinking of building.

"You were the designer of your last ship?" asked Iceburg and Uni nodded. "Excellent. That will make things easier for my company. Your assistance would be most appreciated when designing and building your new submarine. Do you have an idea in mind?"

Uni walked over to his glasses-wearing shipmate, who still seemed comatose in the mud. He nudged him with a boot. Shiroe groaned. "Oi, where are the plans for the new submarine?" the shipwright asked.

"What plans?" returned the tactician as he sat up, pulling his glasses away from his face to squint at them.

"You've been going on all month about specification for the new sub. Don't tell you were blowing smoke the whole time," said Uni, irritation showing.

"Oh those," Shiroe replied as reached into his jumpsuit. "I have the specification right here. Why didn't ask about them first?"

"I did," snapped Uni as he snatched the note pad from the man still sitting in the mud.

Law rolled his eyes. Shiroe could be dense with nuances. He had probably thought Uni was expecting him to produce full ship plans that just needed to be executed and Uni was just talking about his notes on what would be expected of the new submarine given various circumstance ranging from the everyday to battle situations. Uni was too general for Shiroe sometimes.

Law glanced then at the battered Thousand Sunny. She had survived the battle but just barely. While the flying feature and her internal docking system was extremely useful, if they were going to be facing more battles of similar magnitude in the future, his little brother would probably do better to get a more combat oriented ship. Sunny would still have a purpose but probably should be regulated to a more minor role.

"Luffy-ya, I think you should get a new ship while we're here as well and retire this one," said Law.

He expected some resistance to his suggestion, the Straw Hats were a sentimental bunch, but the shitstorm that erupted…

Luffy sprinted to Thousand Sunny and plastered himself to the hull, arms outstretched, and howled, "Over my dead body are we getting rid of Thousand Sunny! She's still in one piece and capable of sailing. I'm not throwing her away for any reason."

"That's not what I'm saying!" Law yelled back. He then had to dodge a shot from Usopp who was howling obscenities at him. "Will you wait and listen!"

The sniper was having none of it. It seemed like he was trying to say something in response, but the man was too upset for anything he uttered to be remotely understandable. He continued to shoot fire stars and green stars at the Surgeon of Death. Law really had to dance to escape the bite radius of the man-eating plants the green stars produced on top of avoiding burning flares of fire stars.

His crew rose up to come to their captain's defense, but the matter was settled a second later when Franky reached out and engulfed Usopp's head with one over sized hand. Thus the impending threat of another brawl was negated.

"He said 'retire' not 'disassemble'. There are super hundreds of ways to retire a ship while still keeping it," said Franky. Muffled shouts could be heard from with the palm as Usopp punched at the restraining hand.

"I'm still not trading in Sunny," stated Luffy, crossing his arms, Monkey D. stubbornness on full display. He seemed calmer than before, so he was actually listening. Which was more than could be said of his sniper. Franky didn't release him.

"Still, Tra-o, that was super quite the landmine you stepped on with that suggestion," said Franky.

"I see that. I won't bring it up again. It was just a suggestion anyway considering what we'll be facing in the future."

Franky tilted his head. "You have a point. Maybe I'll work on something that I can present to Luffy later if things really start to become too hot for Sunny."

Once night fell, they moved the Thousand Sunny to a secluded shipyard for repairs, well away from where the government ships were being built. Iceburg's men could get the Thousand Sunny back to pristine condition. Her keel was still intact. The crew all sighed in relief upon hearing the news.

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The next snag occurred when they were designing the new submarine and Nami suggested they make a cabin that was specifically for Lami, since she was traveling with them.

Law balked at first. "My sister was only with us because we didn't have time to return to Mendora before heading to Alabasta. Once we reach Mendora, she'll be staying there with her friends. Not traveling with me. So there is no point building a room designed for her when she'll be traveling with me for only a couple more months."

This was where Lami decided to put her delicate eight-year-old foot down. "Big Brother! No! I don't want to stay on Mendora! I want to stay with you!"

"Lami, I'm a pirate," argued Law. "I sail and end up in fights, with the way things are going, the battles will just become more frequent and more intense. There is no way, I'm risking you by bringing with me."

"That just means you are going to be at sea a lot," countered Lami. "I've already lost sixteen years of being with you. I refuse to lose another second!"

"You weren't even awake for those sixteen years. You've lost nothing."

"I LOST YOU! I WAKE UP TO FIND YOU ALMOST AS OLD AS DADDY! WE CAN'T DO ALL THE THINGS WE ONCE DID TOGETHER BECAUSE YOU'RE SO OLD!" Lami dissolved into tears and began wailing, with intermittent cries of "OLD!"

Law twitched and everyone else would have started laughing if Ann hadn't joined in a second later, by all appearances, for the sheer pleasure of shrieking. She had decided that if Lami was mad then there was something to be mad about. And she was well practiced with being mad. She quickly devolved into a full throw-herself-on-the-ground tantrum to which no one dared approach. Lami at least remained on her feet.

Luffy looked like he could have murdered Law at that moment. With all the tantrums Ann had been throwing, the Straw Hat captain was at his wits' end. At least she wasn't destroying anything else. Lance's version of "tough love" had cured her of that inclination.

Oh that's right they still had to go buy all new, bedding, clothes, chart paper and quills and children's books. The rest of the Straw Hats suddenly didn't look like laughing anymore.

"All right. All right! I'm still not dragging you all over New World, but your own room would allow you travel more comfortably until we return to Mendora. As well as when I do you take you out with me," conceded Law.

His little sister promptly stopped howling and threw herself at him. With a kiss to his cheek she declared, "I love you, Big Brother. You're the bestest!" Law felt conned but there was no taking it back now. His crew sniggered until he glared at them. Then sniggered even more once he turned away.

Ann, meanwhile, held out for thirty seconds more before realizing she was alone in her outrage and quieted out of confusion.

The new submarine was larger, giving more elbow room to the crew, especially Jean Bart who had been an incredibly good sport since joining two years ago. It was also swifter and tougher than Polar Tang. She also had a bit more fighting capacity. She wasn't as dedicated as the Marines' war submarines, but she would be able to punch harder.

When it came time for the ship to be given a name Lami declared the submarine should be called Sora's Fist after the hero from the Germa 66 comic. Law twitched but let it stand. The Straw Hats all fell over laughing to Lami and Iceburg's confusion.

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The Straw Hats were going over the final repairs for their ship with the Galley La members. Law was chilling nearby since his ship was still under construction.

"By the way," said Paulie after he finished his assessment of the Thousand Sunny. "Do you know what's going on with your allies?"

"Huh? No, what's up?" replied Luffy. Paulie handed him the day's newspaper. It described an incident where members of the Straw Hat Grandfleet had attacked a Marine battleship. The article explained further in that it was part of a series of attacks that had been going on for a while. The number of hits it calculated caused Luffy to yelp. Nami snatched the paper from him and began reading out loud, he hadn't been sharing. Everyone shrieked when she reached the same spot in the article.

"What the hell are they doing?!" cried Luffy recovering his voice first. Law was face palming.

"I thought you guys would know," said Paulie. "They've been at it for months and they ransacked several bases as well. From what's being reported, they aren't hitting targets more than once. Marine Headquarters has been pulling men from the other blues to try to cover for the gaps in personal and now chaos is spreading to everywhere else as there aren't enough Marines left to keep the pirate problem there in check."

"When did this start?" asked Usopp, his face pale.

Paulie thought for a moment as the other continued to come the newspaper for more information. "I'd say about mid-February was when the first attacks were reported."

Luffy blanched. That was right about when he died. Was this in response to his vivre cards burning up?

"How did we miss these reports?" cried Nami.

"We were first sailing in unoccupied seas so the New Coos would not have been traveling there," said Robin. "It's like when we were in the Florain Triangle and missed Ace's capture and when we were in Wano and missed the dust up in Reverie."

Everyone's face darkened at the mention of Luffy's late brother. If only they had realized then what had happened to Ace, maybe they could have… Well there was no point in dwelling on things they couldn't change.

"Then we were in the belly of a certain whale," said Law. Everyone grew gloomier. The man grimaced, there was just no way to avoid depressing subjects right now.

"We were busy with Alabasta," said Sanji, "but why not afterwards?"

"We were fighting so much maybe the New Coos overflew us thinking it was a battle in progress," suggested Ikkaku.

"That's probably what happened," groaned Jinbei.

"Should we contact them?" asked Chopper.

Before anyone could respond one way or the other, the den den mushi began to ring. The timing of it made everyone jump. Before anyone could stop him, the Straw Hat's captain picked up the receiver.

"Hello, this is Monkey D. Luffy, I'm going to be King of the Pirates," Luffy answered to the amusement of all listeners.

The wailing of "Luffy-senpai!" announced to those who unfortunately knew him that the speaker on the other end was Bartolomeo. A captain from the Grandfleet had finally called. Luffy was curious as to why they had taken so long to call then cast a suspicious look at his crew who suddenly found everything more interesting than him.

Ahhh… They'd been refusing to answer any calls and left the Grandfleet deliberately in the dark. Well that decision was certainly coming back to bite them all in the ass. He really should have called sooner. Fuck.

"Going?" Law raised an eyebrow at his little brother and Luffy stuck his tongue out at the other captain. This was not the time to announce what he had found. And definitely not time to lay claim to any such title. Thus his old catch phrase was still valid. Besides he had said it on habit. It was kind of hard to not do something you'd been doing for twelve years.

"Is that Law? What the hell is that man doing on Luffy-senpai's ship?" Bartolomeo spat.

"Hello to you, too, Crest Head" Law called just to be an ass before Luffy could respond.

"YOU DON'T GET TO CALL ME THAT!" The den den mushi jumped in his hands at Bartolomeo's shout and Luffy flinched. His poor scream damaged ears throbbed in protest at the shouting.

"Well about that…" started Luffy, glaring at Law. Law somehow managed to look completely innocent. Which the Straw Hat captain decided was more disturbing than the expression he wore when he was plotting something.

"Is this line secure?" cried Nami, diving for the receiver and stopping Luffy mid-sentence by slamming into him.

"Nami!" cried the Straw Hat captain when he nearly fell over but managed to keep the receiver in hand. This was his conversation.

"Is it?" She demanded, hands on hips and glaring at Luffy. Luffy glared back. What was her problem?

"No. Why? What happened, Nami-senpai? The vivre card just vanished one night. Why did it vanish?" Bartolomeo began sobbing and rest of what he said could barely be understood.

Crap. The way Bartolomeo idolized him the man would be the first to notice his vivre card had vanished. Everyone else might not have for a few weeks but not the Barto Club Pirates. No wonder things got hot in New World within days of Luffy dying.

He really should have called them. No matter what the risks, he should have let them know he was okay at least. The more complicated talk could happen later. Because he hadn't his name had been plastered all over the front page for the last few months and was linked with the destruction of several Marine bases and battleships. None of this was good while he was in his current condition. He needed less publicity right now, not more of it.

"Lots of stuff happened and…" Luffy started only to be cut off again when his navigator successfully snatched the receiver from him. "Nami!"

"Not over an unsecured line!" she barked at him. "We don't want the whole eavesdropping ocean to hear this." Luffy hunched his shoulders at her reprimand. She had a point and he felt the fool for not realizing it sooner.

She turned her attention to the Barto Club Pirate's captain. "We'll tell you all about it at that place." Luffy tilted his head in confusion.

That confusion was echoed by Bartolomeo. "That place?"

" _That place_!" Nami shouted, stressing the words. She was speaking come kind of code that wouldn't give them away to eavesdropping Marines, but what they hell was she referring to?!

"But," she continued, oblivious to Luffy's frustration, "it will be a few weeks before we can get there so don't cause Leo and the others any trouble if you have to wait."

 _Leo? What did Leo have to do with…?_ Then his under worked brain finally produced an answer. Dressrosa. The place where Bartolomeo and the others had first sworn loyalty to Luffy against his wishes.

"Oh… _That place_." Bartolomeo said like he too had just managed to make the connection and not say the name of Dressrosa out loud. "I understand Nami-senpai, we'll meet at _that place_."

The line went silent as Bartolomeo hung up and Nami returned the receiver to its cradle.

"So I guess we're detouring to Dressrosa, then," said Luffy.

"Yep, no helping it," sighed Nami.

"You were going to have to face the fleet at some point," said Law. "It's probably just as well we get this over with now. At least I'll be there to back you up."

"I wonder if Bartolomeo's attitude toward you will change once we tell them we're sworn brothers," said Luffy giving his brother a fiendish grin.

Law grimaced and said, "I hope not."

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A few days later they headed off to Saboady Archipelago. Despite being able to travel faster, Sora's Fist sailed at the surface near Thousand Sunny. The Florian Triangle was coming up and while Law could have just sailed beneath the troubled sea, he was not leaving his brother to fend for himself with whatever had taken out the Rumbar Pirates half a century earlier. Moria may be gone but other threats remained that were far more dangerous than a zombie island. Fortunately, they were able to skirt around the fog since no one felt like tempting fate this time by sailing through it.


	9. Back at Shakky's Rip-Off Bar

June 20, 801 WG

It was another day at Shakky's Rip-Off Bar. Rayleigh had robbed another nobleman, who made the fatal mistake of purchasing him from the Human Shop, and was enjoying some drinks at the bar while Shakky shook down another drunk pirate for all his beris. Good thing her business thrived on the fly-by pirate crews that crawled up the Grandline on their way to New World and not regulars. Then again, the few regulars she did have she always treated well. Exibit A: Rayleigh.

Outside, rival crews exchanged fire but avoided the more densely populated groves that were more likely to have nobles are even a random Celestial Dragon walking around and thus, avoided drawing Marine attention. Not that they would get much right now shy of slugging a Celestial Dragon. The Marines were still busy cleaning up after all the excitement in New World and Alabasta and wrestling the four Blues back into submission.

Shakky and Rayleigh had been the spending the past few months wondering what had gotten into Luffy's allies. The coordinated attacks on Marine facilities had come out of nowhere. What made it even more odd, and alarming, was that Luffy, the usual epicenter of all things chaotic these days, was missing from the action.

Pirates everywhere in Saboady were talking about the weird activity, but since they were mainly rookies, they had, of course, come up with some outrageous theories as to why. Many of which reflected their ignorance of the man who headed the fleet. The suggestions included vengeance for Ace or Straw Hat displaying dominance through the might of his subordinates. The new Yonko, having felled Kaido and done a critical blow to Big Mom, flexing muscle in victory. The heir-apparent to the Pirate Throne, as recognized by Rayleigh's support two years earlier, showing he was above the threat of Marines now.

None of it was really Luffy, though. The boyish captain that only wanted to sail to adventure and was not interested in conquest of any sorts. A man with a dream.

Shakky and Rayleigh got a laugh at the rookies' wild speculations but as time went by with no sign of Luffy, worry began to set in. What if these attacks were for a completely different reason? One that didn't bode well for the good health of their favorite pirate. They tried not to speak the taboo thought for fear it would manifest in the papers, confirming their worst fears. As long as the papers remained silent there was still hope.

Shakky finished shaking down the drunk and hurled the luckless, and now penniless, soul out of her bar. She then returned to her place behind the counter to pour Rayleigh another drink and continue with their conversation.

The door burst open before a word could be spoken between the two. She looked up wondering what fresh victim and walked in and her jaw dropped. Rayleigh noticed her stunned expression and turned, only for his eyes to widen in both surprise and delight.

Speak of the devil!

Luffy stood in the doorway, breathing hard from what must have been a dead sprint from wherever he docked his ship. It took him thirty seconds of gasping and the two former pirates staring before Rayleigh managed to find his voice.

"Luffy! You've returned!" He was so happy, a bright smile spreading across his face. Shakky felt her own face splitting at the sight. The weeks of worry vanishing at the sight of the petite captain in the straw hat.

Luffy looked up. He wasn't smiling, which startled the pair, he was also still panting. Nevertheless, the young man managed to take a deep breath and launched himself across the room. He grabbed hold of the stool next to the old man and perched himself atop it as he spun to face Rayleigh with a serious expression on his face. He resumed panting.

Something about the whole thing seemed odd to Shakky. Then she realized Luffy hadn't stretched across the gap but leapt across it. And he still wasn't smiling. There was an edge to his face, shadows that hadn't existed two years ago or even eight months ago when he had left Saboady to head to New World. And… was that a new scar on his chest?!

It was. It was small, no more than three inches, if that, of tight pink knotted flesh over his heart. Not noticeable at a distance due to the massive two-year-old burn scar on his chest, but still, close up it stood out against the backdrop of the ragged discolored flesh of the old burns.

Hmmm…

Rayleigh looked startled at the intensity of Luffy's expression that held just an edge of haki.

"Is something the matter, Luffy?" asked Roger's former vice-captain.

Luffy took another thirty seconds to get his breathing under control.

Why was it taking him so long to recover his breath?

Finally, he spoke. "Why didn't you warn us about that demon on Raftel?"

Shakky and Rayleigh both looked confused.

"Crocus said," Luffy continued, "he didn't mention it because he thought it wasn't a big deal cuz you all shook it off and that he assumed we would do the same. But Crocus didn't even tell us about the Poneglyphs because we were right at the beginning so whatever. But why didn't you say something, Rayleigh? That was not fun!"

"Oh so you reached Raftel!" said Shakky with smile. She didn't know what Luffy was referring to but if he was complaining about something on Raftel that meant he arrived. "That means I should break out my best booze for when your crew catches up."

Rayleigh, however, looked at him very seriously. "What exactly happened?"

"Robin read the Poneglyph and got all possessed," Luffy began, gesturing wildly to emphasis various points in the ramble. "Then Law read it to the rest of us and we got all possessed. And I'm not sure how, but I stopped being possessed but I figured out what would happen if they got more people possessed and tried to stop them from getting to their ships. I had to blast my own crew with haki cuz they were all crazy and started attacking me. Then this evil red spirit demon came out of them all angry. I had to agree to protect all the nations on the Grandline or else it would repossess my friends and go and destroy everything. So then of course Alabasta gets threatened and we had to run over there to save it from Pluton. But if a Buster Call happens the whole world will go boom and lots of people will die. And all because you didn't tell us about that demon that comes out and possesses anyone who reads the Rio Poneglyph."

Uh huh…

Luffy's explanation left much to be desired but Shakky suspected it wouldn't have been half as bad if she actually knew something about Raftel beyond the general legend. Rayleigh's darkening expression suggested as much. He pinched his nose when Luffy finished then knocked back what was left in his mug.

"I didn't bring it up because my memory of then is shaky at best. You describing it now made me remember but…. I didn't remember until now! It was like I didn't think about it until you brought it up."

The door opened again, much more gently than before and in walked the rest of the Straw Hats along with Law and his crew. Shakky eyed the Hearts Pirates wondering why they were there then remembered in Luffy's rambling explanation that he had mentioned Law reading the Rio Poneglyph. Why had Law been there? She knew they had been allies to deal with Kaido, according to the papers, but hadn't that alliance ended?

Nami ran over and pinched her captain's ear. "Luffy! How could you run off like that! You're too irresponsible," she scolded while Luffy yelped and pleaded for her to release him.

"It was bothering you that much that you couldn't wait the two minutes longer to walk up with the rest of us before pouncing on the Dark Knight, huh?" asked a man in medium armor and a full beard as he sat down at one of the tables.

Rayleigh tilted his head at the new face. "Do I know you?"

The man grinned and waved a dismissive hand. "We may have been sailing at the same time, but I never got the pleasure of matching wits with you. So I doubt it."

Rayleigh scowled and Shakky eyed the man as well. Now they were really interested in figuring out his identity. What pirate group had he been associated with back in the day?

"Anyway, seeing as the bar is still intact, or more accurately you aren't in the middle of fielding punches, my godson has restricted his ire to mere verbal accusations than any attempt at physical violence."

Shakky snorted as Rayleigh stared dumbstruck. Godson? Who was this? She had to know!

"Are you going to announce that to everyone I know on this trip?" Luffy snarled, oddly irked.

The man batted his eyes in mock innocence, placing a hand over his heart and said in a voice dripping with sincerity that by some miracle avoided any taints of falsehood, "Luffy, you do realize it is in the parenting contract signed at birth before doctors hand newborns over to delighted mothers and fathers that said mothers and fathers are expected to embarrass their beloved children at every inconvenient moment imaginable as a display of their over abundant love and affection as well as demonstration of their pride in their offspring's many accomplishments."

"Really?" Luffy, still fairly naïve, said this with honest curiosity, his annoyance lost. The crews all clutched their sides as they tried hard not to laugh out loud. Shakky and Rayleigh found themselves in a similar debacle.

"Yes, really!" declared a little girl with fawn hair in pigtails sitting on the Surgeon of Death's lap. Which made the deadly captain look less deadly and more domestic, which he didn't seem to mind. "Kaa-san and Tou-san said the same exact thing when Nii-san complained about Kaa-san kissing him in public. And our parents wouldn't lie!"

That sent everyone over the edge and the bar filled with their roaring laughter. Comments of "So cute!" and "Law was a mama's boy!" avoided retaliation only because it could not be determined who said them. Law buried his face in his hands while the little girl patted him, appearing a little confused.

"See! It's a worldwide conspiracy!" cried the man with a face splitting grin.

"I didn't know humans did that," said a bunny mink. Shakky recalled her wanted poster declaring her as Bunicula Carrot. Odd she seemed too sweet to be a vampire bunny.

"Doctorine never told me about that. Where do I find these contracts or is that strictly a World Government thing their hospitals do?" asked Chopper. Poor naïve reindeer.

"But still you said it was the parents that had to do this. You're a godparent, or did you sign a similar contract when you became a godparent?" asked Carrot. The crews were on the floor, save naïve, innocent members, in stitches. Nobody had the air to explain properly.

Except the man that started it all, who was grinning like a fiend, and Luffy who was beginning to eye his godfather like he was just starting to suspect a con.

Looked like he'd grown a little wiser since their last encounter if he had become capable of suspecting a con.

"No, but as Lami here so aptly demonstrated, there is a form of parental embarrassment that is known as embarrassing by proxy. Lami so sweetly brought up an adorable memory from their mutual childhood involving their late parents that thoroughly messed with her big brother's 'I am death!' reputation he so carefully cultivated as a pirate. Fortunately, we are among friends, so no harm no foul."

Law's giggling crewmen suggested otherwise, but the man ignored the signs and pressed on.

"I, as godparent, am simply filling the role, as ordained by being a godparent, of the missing parents. I have waited nearly two decades to fulfill my duty and you, Luffy, do not embarrass easily. I didn't realize you would be bothered about this, though. This is going to be a fun trip."

Luffy was back to glaring at the man. "I'm starting to think you really did dare Kaa-chan to steal Roger's sword."

What? Shakky glanced at Rayleigh who was now cocking an eyebrow at the man.

Luffy's godfather shrugged and said, "Well I didn't dare her to kiss him."

"WHAT?!" The entire bar howled.

"Did I forget to mention that?" He was once again batting wide brown eyes at his godson.

Oh my! Shakky pressed her hand to her mouth. Rayleigh was staring slack jawed. She recalled Rayleigh telling a story of a diminutive Marine that had snuck aboard the Oro Jackson shortly before they found Raftel. They had only noticed the missing sword hours after the Marine had vanished because they had been too stunned by the Marine's abrupt and brief appearance.

According to Rayleigh, the Marine had dropped down from the yard arm by hanging upside down from a rope, grabbed Roger's collar and pulled him into a full lip to lip, fifteen second kiss, then swung back up to the yard arm and vanished from sight. Roger had stood frozen for a whole minute before his brain starting functioning again. Until now, no one had had any idea what that had been about or even who that was.

"That was Luffy's mother?!" the Dark Knight managed to squeak out.

Luffy's godfather ignored Rayleigh's comment and addressed the Straw Hat captain. "She confessed when Kong asked her why she hadn't stabbed the man since she had gotten close enough to snatch his sword from his belt. Her response was a flippant, 'Well, it's rude to kill a man while you're kissing him.'

"Whatever Kong wanted to say to that was lost because your father started throwing a hissy fit over it. It was the first time he had ever shown any jealous tendencies toward her antics and she took full advantage of it. She shut him up by kissing him, while wearing the reddest lipstick I had ever seen. It took Dragon five hours to scrub it off his face… and neck… and shoulders… Quite frankly, I'm amazed with how thoroughly she covered him in that brief minute of romantic assault she launched in that office."

Rayleigh was face to counter, probably trying to contain his mirth, while Luffy was absolutely mortified. Few could stand the thought of their parents being sexual beings, apparently Luffy was not an exception. Embarrassing by proxy, mission accomplished.

Then again… Now that Shakky stopped to think about it. Why was Luffy embarrassed? He seemed rather immune to all things of romantic or sexual nature before. How else had he survived Hancock? Something significant had definitely happened in the last eight months.

"So you lot were Marines?" asked Shakky, once she was composed again.

"Yep," replied the man, still grinning.

Huh… Where was he assigned that he missed out on crossing swords with Rayleigh, but a comrade could accost his captain? However, his mischievous grin caused her to ask a different question rather than follow up.

"How much of this is trying to embarrass Luffy and how much is you having a fresh audience to tell tales about Dragon the not-so-godly?" asked Shakky. Really that little tidbit about throwing hissy fits and smeared lipstick alone completely shattered Dragon's mystic image that was cultivated in the newspapers.

"I have his biography covering the time he was in the Marines already written and safely tucked away in his mother's study," he said, laughing. "We, his mother and I, plan to release it once everything has settled down. Or at least that was the plan way back then. Probably still is since it hasn't been published yet."

Oh this man was evil! She was certain the Leader of the Revolutionary Army would not appreciate it in the slightest having his bumbling younger years publicized to be mocked by the world at large. There was probably not a cave deep enough to hide in once the book went public to save Luffy's godfather from Dragon's wrath. He didn't seem to be fazed by that reality, though. He must have been one of those thrill seekers that got their kicks kicking beehives just to watch how they swarm before racing for the river.

Then there was the mother. Dragon's mother. All people had a mother but for her to still be alive and capable of tormentor her criminal son… And hear she had thought Garp was a widower this whole time. Well learn something new everyday!

"They were Marines," said Rayleigh in a thoughtful tone, stroking his beard. "That might explain a few things."

"What do you mean?" asked Luffy.

"I don't remember being possessed. I do remember waking up on the beach, not sure of how I got there when the last thing I recalled was being further inland near the Rio Poneglyphs. As everyone was pulling themselves off the ground, I thought I sensed someone watching and looked over. A Marine was standing further down the beach, staring at us. He had another, smaller, person in his arms but I couldn't see details at the distance. He just stared at us for a half minute more before flying away."

Luffy's godfather became serious and asked the Dark Knight, "Did you people find Raftel between September 15, 775 and October 13, 775?"

"After all these years I can't be sure, but it sounds about right," replied Rayleigh. He narrowed his eyes. "Why?"

"We, as in myself, Dragon, Maryanne and Helgram, had just defeated Hernan Cortes. Maryanne was laughing after our victory as we tried to find spaces to lock the surviving pirates below deck when she suddenly stopped laughing, grew pale then took off like the devil was on her heels. Dragon tore after her and Helgram and I were forced to return to base with our load without them. A few weeks later we got word that Dragon and Maryanne had turned up at our eastern most base and that Maryanne was in poor condition.

"High Command asked about what had taken out their lively but highly effective vice-admiral and Dragon claimed he didn't know. That, by the time he caught up to her, she was falling out of the sky. He didn't see what, if anything, she had been fighting. I'm thinking Dragon lied. Given what you just said."

"It didn't cross your mind before?"

"He never lied before. Withhold information, yes, but not flat out lie. He's terrible at it. Unlike Maryanne who was a master practitioner of the fine art of deception by distraction. She was also a phenomenal storyteller. She could lie straight faced while looking you in the eye and coming across as hopelessly naïve, so you didn't think she was capable of it."

Shakky smothered a laugh while eyeing the Straw Hat captain. Luffy looked stunned by this as did the rest of his crew.

Law snorted. "After everything you told us about that pair, I'm surprised I actually find this surprising. That kind of makes it seem she was being deliberate in her behavior rather than just clueless. Unlike a certain captain we all know."

Luffy scowled and said, "Being deliberate means she had control the whole time."

"Well are you saying she deliberately destroyed seven battleships with a dinner platter?" asked Nami.

Shakky snorted. Luffy's mother sounded like fun. Too bad she never got to know her. Maybe it was better, given that she had been a Marine and had taken out the Conquistador Pirates.

Luffy's godfather gave a half-smile and said, "Being a constant element of chaos is an excellent cover at those critical moments. I think she deliberately put herself in those situations but never planned out the more explosive results. They just happened and she just rolled with it."

"Well I guess we found out what Luffy inherited from his father," said Zoro. "His inability to lie."

"Well that doesn't explain where all the trouble-finding came from," said Sanji.

To Shakky's surprise, Luffy grimaced and Nami kicked Sanji, who immediately apologized. The one-time pirate, now bar owner, wondered what that exchange was about. From what she understood about the Straw Hat captain, Sanji's statement was on the mark. Strange, why did it seem Luffy was more sensitive to comments about his past behavior?

The man shrugged. "Garp is not exactly a rational fellow, maybe those tendencies just skip a generation." He looked then at Rayleigh, "Getting back on subject… Crocus is one thing, you gave Luffy two years of your life to help improve his chances in New World and didn't say anything about the entity on Raftel. You remembered something weird happening and then saw a pair of Marines on Raftel when you came to. Even if it didn't deter Luffy, the rest of the crew could have used that information."

Rayleigh grimaced and shook his head. "As I told Luffy earlier, I honestly didn't think of it until just now when Luffy asked."

The man let out a breath then smiled at Rayleigh. "He's not lying. You know that, right Luffy?"

"Yeah, yeah," muttered Luffy flopping onto the bar, all energy and motivation vanishing.

"Still leaves us in a sucky position," said Law.

Shakky looked between the tense and serious crews, something that was odd for the Straw Hats in general. "How bad is this situation?"

"From what we can piece together, Luffy's mother was able to beat that thing down so Roger and his crew got off scot free," said Usopp. "However, Luffy had to negotiate with the bloody thing to get it to back off. So if one more nation gets destroyed by the World Government it will escape and destroy the world."

"It's super not funny! That thing is a mass of hate for the World Government," continued Franky.

Rayleigh's eyes flashed and said, "There was something mentioned on the Rio Poneglyph that talked about a deal or a devil the twenties kings were involved with that granted them victory despite the ancient weapons being on the side of the Ancient Kingdom. I wonder if it this entity is it."

"Seemed more like the backlash. Something that was created as a result of the deal," said Law. "The reason why the World Government tries so hard to keep the past buried."

Robin nodded. "Truth alone is terrible but learning about the truth causes the recipient to be possessed by this malicious spirit and sends you out to go and kill anything associated with the World Government."

"If it gets spread to the world every man, woman and child that is not a Marine or Agent or Official or Aristocrat would become possessed by a murderous rage and attack those that are," added Sanji.

"However, the World Government and the Aristocracy have all the military power," chimed in a young woman from Law's crew. "Even though the citizens would outnumber the World Government, fatalities and destruction would be heavy on the citizens' side of the battle from simply being outgunned."

"They'd get overwhelmed eventually due to sheer numbers, though," finished a Hearts Pirate with an orca hat.

"What would be left would be anarchy and blighted fields and rivers," said Luffy's godfather. "The situation for survivors would be far worse than they are now."

"Would no rules really be that bad? No Marines, no laws, able to do whatever we wanted. Sounds like paradise," asked another Hearts Pirate, this one wearing a green rugby helmet and not looking the like the sharpest tool in the shed.

"Very bad," Law answered with a snap. "We pirates dance around the rules but also rely on them to know how to step so we don't fall on our faces."

"It's like if everyone's a thief there would be no money to steal," said Nami, when she noticed continued confusion on several faces. "What keeps the number of dishonest people in check so that honest people can continue to make things that can then be stolen is the protections put in place for the honest people. Simply put, no one can steal food if there are no farmers to steal from. Farmers can't survive to grow food if they can't keep any. No protection for the farmers means no farmers and thus no food. The thieves all starve."

Shakky observed the two. Law's explanation was more poetic and seemed to hint at personal trauma. He had probably experienced anarchy prior to becoming a pirate, or something very close to it. Nami was practical and was able to explain it in simple terms. Luffy looked at the two as if he hadn't realized that but was taking what they said seriously. Rugby hat still looked confused along with one other of the Hearts Pirates, one that looked about as clueless as Rugby hat.

"The Marines serve a vital purpose, even if that purpose is currently corrupted," agreed Luffy's godfather, his eyes focused on Luffy as if he were talking to him alone even as he addressed the room. "We lose the law, society is lost and the people's suffering increases. It's like what happened to all those islands that White Beard protected when he died. He was the law since the Marines couldn't be bothered. Same with all the Yonko, actually. No matter how terrible, any order, even an evil order, is better than no order. That doesn't mean an evil order shouldn't ever be challenged. It just means you need to have a plan for what comes after or you'll wind up making things worse.

"That's what Dragon wanted to do when he climbed the ranks, change the Marines to be better and more focused on their mission rather than politics. It's what he is still trying to do, now that's he left, trying to establish fairer governments once he's taken down bad monarchs. He's seen what happens when a nation destroys its own government and yet can't create a new one. What happened in Estaro remains at the forefront of his mind. Not half as much evil was done within that evil monarch's three-decade reign as was committed in the single year that followed his fall. That's why Dragon always sets up a new system and keeps his people around to make sure it's working fine for a year before he moves on. He'll even check on them in the years that follow to make sure everything is still going well. He takes responsibility and minimizes the chaos and won't allow for anarchy."

The others were silent for a while. Shakky was impressed with the man's analysis. He definitely sounded like a former Marine.

"For someone who retreated to a backwater island in New World to settle down after leaving the Marines and cutting ties to Dragon, you sure know a lot about what he's doing," said Sanji, scowling.

"I keep my ear to the wind. I never did lose my privileged connections after all. They wanted me to stay clued into his activity in case I changed my mind."

Shakky wondered what that meant but Sanji didn't press and everyone else seemed to know what he was talking about.

"You understand all that but never joined Dragon in his mission," said Jinbei. "Why? You're a strategist of such talent that World Government was willing to overlook your behavior in regards to Pluton. I can imagine it would have made it easier for Dragon to accomplish his mission if you had been at his side."

Shakky and Rayleigh both stared at him in shock. There was only person they knew of by reputation that matched Jinbei's description. Now his earlier comment made a lot of sense.

"You're Raiju, aren't you?" Rayleigh asked.

Raiju smiled at him but responded to Jinbei. "When we left the Marines, Dragon approached me. Told me everything and wanted be to join him for that very reason." He looked down, smile vanishing as his expression darkened. "However, his motivation back then was not justice nor freedom but vengeance. I was mourning Maryanne's death as well, but seeing him, filled with rage and the desire to destroy…" He shook his head.

"Now that I think about it. The shadows of the beast was in his eyes. He scared me then. I tried to talk him out of it. Tried to remind him of everything that he had stood for. Tried to remind him of his purpose. Tried to remind him of his dream. I then brought up his son. Big mistake. He went off and he nearly killed me. I don't know what made him stop. It was like he suddenly realized what he was doing and backed off. I decided then and there that I wasn't going to help but neither was I going to hinder him."

"Why did he try to kill you for mentioning me?" Luffy asked in a subdued tone, his eyes hidden beneath his hat.

"His exact words when he came at me were, 'Do you think I can let Maryanne's only child grow up in this hell world? They will surely hunt him to the ends of the earth for merely existing. I must end them before they can ever be a threat to him. He must grow up free!'

"Dragon may not have accomplished his goal before you grew up but doing things slow and trying to get it right may grant your children the peace he was hoping to give you. He's fighting for the future." At this Raiju smiled a sad smile. "And there is always a future to fight for as long as there are children growing up."

Law snorted but smiled and gave the hair of the little girl sitting on his lap an affectionate tousle. Shakky was curious about the two girls inside her bar. She had just noticed a second even smaller one standing slightly behind Nami.

"As least he got his head back on straight after you two parted," said the Hearts Pirate captain.

Luffy remained silent, staring at the floor, his eyes unfocused as if he were lost in thought. Then the little girl approached as if she had seen some hidden signal and he reached down to lift her up. Rayleigh and Shakky stared at the girl who stared back while she clung to Luffy.

"Who's this?" asked Shakky.

"This is Ann," replied Luffy with a smile, a warm bright smile, the first since arriving. "She's Ace's daughter."

"What?"

Shakky chuckled as Rayleigh stared in disbelief, unidentified emotions flickering in his eyes.

"Well now that we got the serious business out of the way," she said with a smile. She brought her finest bottle of booze. "It's time for us to celebrate the completion of your journey to Raftel." She popped the cork out of the bottle and began pouring glasses.

"Of course," Shakky continued. "You also have to tell us everything since you left, especially how you found this little jewel in your arms." She smiled at the little girl who buried her face into Luffy's chest. "And more importantly, what is going on with your fleet?"

"Uh… Yeah…" started Luffy looking down, awkward embarrassment.

Law looked down as well, except he appeared guilty.

Shakky eyed him. Definitely a story that was going to need much booze to hear. She then glanced at the two small girls. "Guess I better find some juice for the little ones. Can't give them alcohol." She reached down and found the juice and another bottle of booze for the crews.

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Next: Dark Sea; Shard of the Moon

Not much going on, just the reunion between Luffy and Reyleigh as the crews head back to New World. The converstaion, however, will play a significant role in the future.

It's going to be a while before I update Dark Sea Chronicles due to Shard of the Moon being next but having to work on Mark of the Wind. Mark of the Wind is the story of Luffy's parents, particularly Dragon. Lance had told the crews that story when they were traveling within Laboon, which is what he keeps alluding to when they talk about Luffy's parents. So hang tight!


End file.
